Gate to Vannas 8: Youngest of SG-1
by AkinaSky
Summary: After the terrifying c-section and the terror set forth by Desire and Lust plotting for their children, Daniel and Jack have survived it and so did their newest son, Malachi but that's not where the story ends. There is something affecting him, magically and they cannot understand what it is doing to him. What will they have to do to save their youngest son?
1. Holding Them Close

**The Youngest SG1**

 **Chapter One: Holding Them Close**

 **Author's Note: Here were are with book 8 of the Gate to Vannas series, so glad to have picked up a few more favorites and follows since I published my last story and I am hoping to write a little more but RL is taking up quite a bit of it so we shall see. I love comments and reviews so if you loved it please tell me why. Anyway, enjoy this story about what's going on with Malachi.**

Jack O'Neill-Jackson loved his son; well to be fair he loved all of his children with everything he had inside. He loved Zale's spirit and Zada's sass, how his two eldest children were getting older by the day and turning into young pre-teens pretty darn soon. He loved the sweetness inherently a part of Janet and Claire and the unflinching positivity of Johnny but Malachi was unique. He was born of Jack and Daniel, Jack carried him and nurtured him with his body and almost died for it. It was hard not to feel a soul deep specialness with the newest O'Neill-Jackson.

He was just buttoning his shirt over his distended pectorals where Malachi fed from and wasn't that a ridiculous mess but after seeing the sweet boy feed, Jack decided it was worth the discomfort and the self-consciousness when the bedroom door opened. Daniel walked in, Jack knew it was him since no one came into the bedroom without knocking and Jack's husband immediately made grabby hands for their son. Jack shook his head with a smile as he handed their youngest over and watched his beautiful Danny as the man burped their baby. After the youngest Jackson-O'Neill had been with them for the last month Jack had been reminded one of the reasons that Daniel was so attractive to Jack was what he was like when he was playing Daddy Daniel. With Johnny at seven, it had been a long time since they'd had a baby in the house, their youngest godchild was walking and chattering already and even when Neil, Jack's namesake, had been a baby they hadn't done much of the child caring as DK was the equivalent of a stay-at-home mommy.

Now with the one month old, three seven year olds and two eleven year olds in the house, Daniel and Jack had basically let everything else besides being full time parents just slip into the background. Jack couldn't seem to feel bad about that though and as Daniel cooed and kissed their little one, Jack figured that Daniel didn't mind so much either.

"What?" Daniel asked finally with a chuckle when he realized Jack was watching him with undoubtedly a goofy smile on his face.

"I love you Danny," Jack whispered as he stayed in the chair and rocked gently. The motion of the rocking comforted him and the action of just watching Daniel smile over at him, and hold their son left him slack jawed with awe. He wondered sometimes if the power of his emotions were left over from the magical pregnancy but then everything he'd ever felt for Daniel and their children had always been huge and life affirming.

"You just love when I come in here in time to burp and change him," Daniel said with a wink even as he moved over to the changing table to get the little boy's diaper changed if necessary.

Jack grinned and got up to walk over go to the dresser and grabbed some clean clothes and quickly changed before he turned to watch as Daniel settled in the rocking chair that was located in a quiet corner of their bedroom and leaned down and kissed his husband gently before pressing a kiss to Malachi's light brown hair. The little boy peaked over at Jack and gave a gummy grin; Jack smiled in return as the tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. It wasn't that long ago that they'd been preparing for the worst, the cursed pregnancy meant to kill him and now thanks in no small part to Daniel's ferocious need to protect Jack and their children, Jack and Malachi had both survived the awful circumstances that led to this moment. Jack was pleased to know that his magical womb had deteriorated safely after the C-section and there was no way to get pregnant again because for one thing, they had enough children and another it wasn't the most pleasant way to spend months of his time.

"Why you getting dressed?" Daniel suddenly asked and Jack turned to glare at his spouse.

"What? Is it so bizarre for me to get out of my pajamas and bed?" Jack demanded in mock offense.

Daniel rolled his eyes in answer, "You just looked very ready to go somewhere, as far as I know Ben is taking the Z-Twins to the castle for their morning training and the girls and Johnny are already in the backyard with Sam and Teal'c's brood. What you up to?"

Jack shrugged a little and heaved a sigh; "I was hoping you'd be up to having some time for you and Malachi. I would love to get out of the house and have a little me-time."

Daniel smiled that dazzling smile that he has only for Jack, "Of course Jack, is there milk in the cooler for Malachi if he's hungry before you get back?"

Jack nodded, shuddering to think on the silly awkward contraption he has to attach to his chest to pull the milk. He'd rather just attach the kid to his hip than use that thing all the time but he and Daniel hadn't done anything together, just the two of them in ages and that was the real reason he was going out. It was around the time of year when they first said 'I do' over eleven years ago and he wanted to do something special for his husband.

So he pressed another kiss into Daniel's neck and Malachi's head and walked out of the bedroom. He walked to the front door and out into the sunny day. He stopped and just enjoyed a moment of being without his children for a moment. He desperately loved those children so much but sometimes he missed just being Jack, sometimes he missed just being Jack and Daniel. His plan was to set up childcare for all of the children except for Malachi who was going to be home with Ben because Jack hadn't been away from his baby since he was born and he didn't want that to change quite yet. He was a good sleeper though so Jack was planning an evening out then the rest of the night with a mostly empty house and right now he was going to make that happen.

Jack just smiled thinking about it.

Daniel watched as Jack walked out of the bedroom with a little hop to his step and smiled. He didn't know what Jack was up to but he was sure there was something going on. He shrugged it off and refocused his attention on Malachi. He kept rocking in the chair and he enjoyed the silence of the house, he knew all his other children were safe with their guardians and Jack was happy off scheming whatever scheme he was seeing to so Daniel just stayed here in the moment with his baby boy. He sometimes struggled a lot since Malachi was born with the fact that he'd tried so desperately to have Jack destroy Malachi and now here he was. Thankfully Jack had forgiven him; the kids too in their own ways and Malachi would hopefully never have to know. Jack told him gently that the curse had caused part of the crazy need to destroy the spark and the other part was horrifying fear of losing Jack. Daniel knew it was true but sometimes he still felt awful especially when he looked into those wide eyes, something unique and in Jack's words: 'freakin weird', Malachi had been born with one brown eyes and one blue. Daniel hoped it wouldn't cause problems for him later in life but figured they lived in a magical world where the community did pretty much anything to protect Jack, Daniel and their children. Johnny had already proved that even a child with a disability was going to make it through a lot of things and actually flourish despite his muteness.

Daniel just kept rocking, listening to the cooing sounds his son emitted and thought back to when he first held Zale and Zada then the twins and Johnny when they were this age and though there was no way him and Jack could have ever decided on purpose to have a _sixth_ child, he wasn't upset because he'd fallen in love with Malachi the first time he held the little boy.

"Daniel?" someone called and he started, not expecting to hear from anyone.

He didn't get up though when he spoke since he knew that voice, "In here."

Adrian opened the door with his little boy in his arms. "Why you here all by yourself?" he asked with a smile. Daniel smiled in return; Adrian after all the years together was still much like their son as well. The man who was a father now as well was one of the reasons that Jack had found his way to being a father to Zale and Zada when they were young, Adrian helped to heal a lot of wounds that Daniel couldn't do anything to help with. So Adrian was welcome in their home and to any information he asked for.

"Jack has gone off to do some scheming and left me here with my favorite little guy."

"Scheming?" Adrian asked.

Daniel shrugged, Malachi wiggled a little at the movement but he was content to stay where he was as long as Daniel didn't move very much. Adrian walked over and pressed a gently hand to Malachi's head and took a deep breath. Daniel just watched his children's godfather and smiled. Adrian, as a magic drinker, had always had a tough time being around the other children because he was forced to fight the need to drink from them but now Daniel knew without a shadow of doubt that Malachi wasn't magical.

"Does Jack know about this?" Adrian asked gently before he returned his hand to just underneath Neil's butt while the small boy's leg dangled around his father's waist.

Daniel shrugged, "We haven't really talked about it but I imagine he suspects it."

"Daniel, there's something you should know."

The father waited with a frown on his face, "Know what Adri?"

"Malachi has no magic, that is true but there is magic affecting him somehow. Have you noticed anything strange?"

"No, what do you mean, affecting him?" Daniel demanded as quietly as he could hoping not to upset the baby. If he didn't have magical abilities like his sisters and brothers then he wouldn't be as affected by their emotions but babies, normal babies, were capable of sensing feelings and tension as well.

Adrian shook his head, "I am unsure as to what I am sensing, has he been to Erica for a check up?"

"Not since he was born," Daniel replied, worried now that there was something wrong with Malachi, grateful to know of the possibility but sad that his peaceful time seemed to be at an end. He hoped he was just overreacting, hoped that Adrian didn't know what was really going on.

"Thanks for ruining my good day Adri," Daniel griped.

Adrian flinched, "I did not wish to ruin anything for you, he was born of a magical pregnancy and it was meant to kill Jack and rip your family apart. I believed that you would want to know instead of being blindsided by it later when you can do nothing for him."

Daniel nodded, "I suppose you're right but I am going to go out on a limb here and say I hope you're wrong."

"Me too Daniel," Adrian replied. He proceeded to settle across Daniel and Jack's bed and started chattering to Neil who was toddling around the bed with his father making sure he didn't fall off the edge. Daniel just listened to Adrian and Neil's little baby babbling and kept pressing kisses to Malachi's head. He chose not to think about the random awful possibilities that could be going on with his son, which would be his and Jack's problem together. He finally felt centered enough to rock Malachi back to sleep and placed him in the crib for his midday nap and closed the door on the sleeping baby, bringing the magical baby monitor with him as well as Adrian and Neil. They walked downstairs and headed for the kitchen so everyone would have some food ready for lunch. He was putting together some sandwiches when the front door slammed open, making Daniel flinch and keep an ear focused on the baby monitor. Like so many of the magical devices, he had no idea why it worked, just that it did.

Zale and Zada came running into the kitchen full of crazy energy and panting from exertion, "Guys, Mal is sleeping, you need to stop slamming the doors around here. I shouldn't have to tell you that over and over," Daniel scolded the two of them and Zale looked sheepish and Zada looked guilty.

"Sorry Daddy, did we wake him?"

Daniel listened again and recognized the sleeping sounds from the device and shook his head. He pressed a hand to his son's head then his beautiful daughter's cheek then motioned to the table where the food was laid out for them. Zada and Zale smiled in thanks and rushed over to start filling their plates. They were getting so big, it was unbelievable sometimes for Daniel who remembered holding Zale when he was first born or when his Magis was slowly making him sick. Of course the next thought was that of Zada not that long ago, standing in front of her bio-mom declaring the woman not fit to remain alive, Daniel didn't know what to do with all that, not yet.

Ever since the sisters had been disempowered and sent off the island, Zale and Zada had been spending time with Erica and Alec for counseling and then spending a little time training magically but a good chunk of their day was spent with their family now. Daniel walked out to the back and crossed over to Sam's backyard where he could hear the kids playing. Sam is there with Teal'c and Jacob, they wave at each other and Daniel waves in return. "Come on babies, its lunch time. Say goodbye to your friends."

Janet and Claire waved at Jacob, Ishtar and Haikon before they raced towards Daniel. Johnny hugged Ishtar gently before he grabbed Greer's hand and tugged his friend after him. Daniel smiled, pressing his hand into Johnny's head gently and patted Greer on the shoulder. It was easier to have the prince in their home now that he was living in the castle again with his family. If Greer stayed the night, he asked and asked his mother and father before he came over. Greer had learned to respect Johnny's boundaries and also Jack and Daniel's boundaries for Johnny.

Sam walked over and smiled at Daniel, "They seem to be doing well."

"Good, I'm glad to hear. It's been nice to have everything settle down quite a bit. It's giving us a chance to figure things out and work through everything that happened with Desire and Lust. How's it going for you and your father?"

Sam shrugged, "He and Ben get along great, they love hanging out with the kids but we are still working through some things and of course Teal'c and I have been seeing Erica to work through everything that happened. It seems that we both have a lot to work through but I am glad to have the opportunity at least, and not just with Teal'c. I'm glad to have the chance with you guys too and I am so glad none of you were hurt in the fire and there were no lasting damage from everything with the sisters."

Daniel smiled, "I'm sure there was damage, we just haven't seen it yet. Zale had to kill a man and Zada almost destroyed her bio-mom because of it. I don't know what the complete lack of interest in Janet and Claire and what happened to Johnny. I don't think we've seen the end of all this Sam."

Sam touched his shoulder gently, giving a gentle squeeze before Daniel turned back to the house. When he gets there, the children were all at the table eating and speaking in Aramaic and Daniel smiled. He just started teaching them the language not that long ago and they were taking to it well but then again his children were fluent in multiple languages and they knew a lot at this point about the transitions from one language to the next, how to find similar roots and so on. Plus they were incredibly intelligent.

Then Zale jumped back into English, looking to Daniel, "Where's Papa? He has not been away from Malachi since he was born."

Daniel smiled, "He is off scheming about something, grinning like a loon before he walked out of here this morning."

"Yay! Papa's schemes usually means good things for all of us!" Claire said while she clapped her hands and her brothers and sisters chuckled at her good spirits. Daniel enjoyed their laughter as well, munching on some vegetables until he heard Malachi mumble and cry from the other room. He pressed a quick kiss to Zale's head who happened to be closest then he headed upstairs and opened the door and walked into the room as the whimpers tripped into unhappy crying. "Okay my little Spark, I'm coming." He whispered and moved to the crib and checked Malachi's diaper, changed him before he lifted him up and into his shoulder. He rocked his son for a few minutes, waiting for him to calm down then walked him back downstairs and sat down at the table so his brothers and sisters could coo and whisper to their baby brother.

Daniel watched Zale and Zada the most, there were moments when Daniel worried that his eldest children were really seeing their brother for the beautiful addition that he was, he wondered if they still felt like they were trouble makers who were going to somehow be replaced by Malachi. Daniel didn't honestly known how to deal with that until they told him what they were feeling so for now he watched them and loved on them constantly.

They heard the front door open and Jack's voice shouted into the house, "Hey I'm home. Where are my babies?"

Daniel smiled and kept a gentle hold on Malachi as the rest of the children raced through the house and threw themselves at their Papa. Daniel followed at a slightly more sedate pace and let all the children get in their hugs and stories about what they did that morning so far. Daniel walked over when Jack caught his gaze and gave the younger man one of those patented Jack smiles that made Daniel grin happily. He crossed the room quickly and pressed into Jack's side, with Malachi tucked between them safely. Jack pressed a warm hand into the side of Daniel's neck and they shared a quick kiss before the children scattered and Daniel pressed Malachi into his husband's waiting hands. Jack got that sappy Papa look on his face as he whispered to the little boy, "Malachi, you hungry little man?"

"He hasn't had his food yet, he just woke up."

Jack nodded then headed towards the stairs, then upstairs. Jack may have learned to accept his own body and knew that Daniel found him beautifully attractive no matter what but he did not feed Malachi in front of the other children. Daniel wasn't sure it was the best idea, didn't want the children to think that Jack was ashamed of what he was capable of doing or didn't want the other children to think there were secrets to be kept and so on but he also wasn't the one dealing with 'female' body parts on his male body so it was Jack's choice and Daniel respected that. He walked back to the kitchen and finished cleaning up and waited to hear from Jack and Malachi when he realized the words whispered through the baby monitor were coming from Jack. He reached over to switch it off because Jack deserved the privacy with their son when he heard his name mentioned.

"Malachi, I know you don't know everything there is to know about your Daddy Daniel yet but he is the most wonderful man I have ever known. I don't know what I would've done all those years ago when Daniel disappeared or when we thought he was gone. All those awful moments happened before I even knew I was in love with him."

Daniel twitched forward, thinking he should really turn off the monitor but couldn't seem to make himself do it. He sniffled as he tried to hold back the tears at the words his lover was saying. He'd been feeling just as off about a lot of things as their children had been feeling and Jack whispering those things to their son made him sigh and smile. He could hear the soft sound of the rocking chair moving back and forth, and the soft sucking as their son fed from Jack.

Daniel's husband kept talking softly, "You are a miracle, so much like Zale and Zada, Janet, Claire and Johnny but you are a little piece of me _and_ Daddy Daniel. And we're not going to let anything happen to you."

Daniel nodded even though he wasn't in the room and no one could see what he was agreeing to. It was even more important to protect Malachi, because he had no personal defense in a magical world and unlike Jack and Daniel and the rest of the non-magicals in their little group, he was innocent and helpless. Even though Jack and Daniel hadn't really talked about it, Jack knew in some small part of himself that Malachi was indeed unique among their children for more than one reason.

Jack continued speaking softly, with the comforting sucking sounds as a backdrop to the lulling sound of the older man's voice and Daniel tuned out the words and just let his husband's voice soothe him. Even before they were together, Jack's take charge attitude had always comforted Daniel, it annoyed the hell out of him too but mostly he knew that Jack was always going to do everything he possibly could to keep them all safe, the comfort had doubled when they came here and acknowledged how they truly felt about each other.

And here they were, almost twelve years later and Daniel just smiled at the thought, Jack walked back down, his buttoned shirt back in place and Malachi tucked quietly against his side. Daniel knew from the past couple of weeks that Jack was using the brace to contain his small mammary glands, to keep them from leaking all over his clothes and to keep them from sticking out and making him look like he had boobs.

Daniel smiled at them both and offered to trade Jack the baby for a sandwich. Jack smiled, "You read my mind, or rather my stomach."

"I didn't have to work hard, I could hear your stomach grumbling from across the room," Daniel said with a snort as Jack took the plate and Daniel scooped Malachi into his waiting arms.

Daniel sat down and watched as Jack ate his lunch, they chatted about nonsensical things and then rejoined the kids in the living room for some afternoon games together. Daniel and Jack had both agreed to refocus much of their afternoon to the kids, the mornings were for friends and training and then the Jackson-O'Neill clan spent their afternoons doing whatever they wanted, as long as they were together. It seemed to help Zale and Zada drop their shoulders and the tension would leave them, Janet and Claire were not as wild and Johnny was able to spend time with Greer and he smiled more. Daniel was glad to see all of them relax a little more every day as the time since everything with Desire and Lust passed farther and farther into the past. And today was no different as they pulled out a card game Jack had created with the Z-twins after the fire because all of their board games from the 21st century had been in the house. Jack had been bored so they started making up games.

Daniel and Jack took turns holding Malachi, letting Zale and Zada hold him every once in a while. Daniel watched as Zale tucked his little brother into his lap, pressing him against Zale's thin chest. "Daddy," Zale whispered as he looked up and over at Daniel.

"Yeah Z-Man," Daniel whispered in return. The rest of the family were still playing, shouting every once in a while and generally just enjoying each other. Daniel was grateful for a quite moment with two of his sons.

Then Zale spoke in his mind instead of out loud, _"Do you love Malachi more than the rest of us because he is your son and Papa's son?"_

Daniel sighed and pulled Zale closer to him and watched as Malachi slapped a little fist into his brother's cheek. Zale smiled gently and just gripped his little brother's hand in his. Daniel sought out the subtle link between Zale's mind and his own, something he'd been learning to use slowly since he took the connection from Lust months before.

 _"Zale, you are Papa's son and my son. I could never love any of you more than the others. Malachi is so young and he's helpless, without power. You and Zada had powers to protect yourself but Malachi doesn't, that means Papa and I are going to be more concerned for him. Please don't do this to yourself, I love you so much Zale."_

Zale looked up at Daniel and nodded; Daniel leaned down and pressed his lips to Zale's forehead gently. They stayed close for a long time, Jack looking over at them with a slight frown on his face. Daniel just shook his head; Zale didn't need all this to be verbalized in front of the family. Daniel and Jack would just keep doing what they were doing now, loving all of their children to the best of their ability.

Jack didn't say anything about his out of the house activities but Daniel wasn't concerned about it. He figured Jack would tell him when the retired General wanted him to know.


	2. Happy Anniversary Baby

**Chapter Two: Happy Anniversary Baby**

 **Author's note: Slightly more explicit scene of this story is over on AO3 under the same name: Akinasky as well as the title. Thanks**

It wasn't until much later that day, closer to the evening when all of a sudden, Daniel found himself saying goodbye to Zada and Zale who were going to sleep over at Teal'c and Sam's house, Johnny was staying in the castle with Greer and his family and the girls were staying with their Uncle Adrian for the night. Daniel was left holding Malachi and frowning as the last child left.

"What's going on Jack?" Daniel asked as he rocked Malachi gently in his arms. He could feel the warm breath wafting across his throat, a comforting sensation that made Daniel's heart beat just a little faster in happiness.

"You are going to have to release Malachi to his grandpapa, because you and I are going out."

Daniel tightened his hold just a little. It wasn't enough to harm Malachi but Daniel realized he did not want to let go, "Both of us?" he choked out.

Jack walked across the living room to where Daniel was rocking with Malachi tucked into his throat. Ben was standing a few feet away, waiting impatiently for his turn with their little Spark. "Daniel, he's going to be with my pop, who would rather die than let anything happen to him, there's a bottle for his final feeding and plenty of clean diapers. What's the problem?"

"He's never been without us, you want him to be without any of us? What if something happens?" Daniel asked. He knew he should have pulled Jack aside and told him of Adrian's concerns, about the fact that Malachi was completely without magic. He would be alone with Ben who couldn't do anything more than shout for help and lock himself in a bedroom which in the world they existed in wasn't much protection with teleporters and those with telekinetic ability.

"Daniel, Sam and Teal'c are across the yard and we are not going to be gone all that long."

"Jack, he's never been without one of us," Daniel reiterated sharply. Malachi shifted at his tone, he may not be able to read emotions like the rest of the children but he could understand the shifts in his parents' moods. Daniel relaxed his shoulders a little and the little snuffling noises thankfully did not turn into whimpers.

"And its time," Jack whispered gently and reached out to wrap his large and beautiful hands around Malachi. Daniel didn't grip the baby, releasing him to his Papa who turned and handed the baby to Ben. Daniel gripped his suddenly empty hands in front of him, wringing them together and utilizing every scrap of self-control to not jerk the baby back from Jack. His husband had a point; they needed to trust the people around them, needed to know that there were people who would do anything to keep Malachi safe. Jack and Daniel deserved some time together. It was one of the promises they made to each other early on in their relationship and marriage, that they would make time for each other.

So Daniel turned abruptly away from Ben's cooing over their son and went to the bedroom to change. It didn't take long for him and then he was back downstairs, leaving Jack upstairs in their shared closet. Daniel walked over to Ben and pressed kisses to Malachi's downy soft hair and hugged Ben and the baby close to him. "I love you Malachi," he whispered gently into the baby's delicate skin.

"He's going to be just fine Danny," Ben said gently, pressing a gentle hand to Daniel's shoulder in comfort.

Daniel nodded, kissed his son again then turned as Jack walked back downstairs and Daniel's mouth went dry at the man wearing slimming black pants which Daniel knew would be soft to the touch. He was wearing a button-up black shirt with a dark blue vest. Daniel had gone with a similar look, his shirt a light blue that he knew Jack liked because it made his eyes shine (Jack's words, no Daniel's). Jack hugged his dad, kissed Malachi on the head and whispered into the little boy's skin. Daniel couldn't hear the words and Jack quickly pressed a hand to Ben's shoulder before turning away.

Then Jack was taking Daniel's hand and they were walking out of the house, Daniel not actively pulling against Jack but not very happy about leaving Malachi alone. They made it down the path and away from the house where Jack curved their path and headed towards the arena. Daniel frowned but said nothing, every once in a while glancing back at their home until Jack pulled a little and Daniel bumped into his husband's side.

"You trust me right?" Jack asked gently, no accusation, just a gentle reminder.

"Of course," Daniel muttered, wrapping his hand around Jack's wrist where it was pressed into his hip.

"Trust me when I say that nothing is going to happen to our son. Pop wouldn't let anything happen to him and several of his magical stalkers are keeping an ear out for him."

Magical stalkers is generally what Jack chose to call those like Erica and Akina, who used telepathy and teleportation to protect Malachi, since he was a powerless baby in a world of magic. Daniel knew, like all his other children that Erica and Akina had always taken a special interest in Malachi and actually it was even truer with their youngest child. Malachi was the first of his kind, a child born of two men, which had never happened even in this magical land.

Daniel nodded and soon they were standing in front of Daniel's office. He hadn't seen it in a long time but he was pretty sure it didn't look like it did now. The windows were shaded with almost shear white curtains, there was a table set with a 'candle' in the middle for mood lighting though Jack it seemed had asked someone to cast some sort of magic because the flame wasn't actually flame and it was giving off better light than a wax candle was capable of. After Daniel had been inside the house when Lust was setting it ablaze, he had a hard time being anywhere near an open flame so Daniel squeezed Jack's hand in understanding and love. They walked across the room and there was food set out on the table and Jack walked them over and helped Daniel to sit before he sat himself. It was a ridiculous gesture but Daniel was willing to overlook it for now since Jack was grinning and Daniel loved to see him happy.

"What is all this?" Daniel asked, as he got comfortable in his chair. It looked like someone put a lot of thought into the dinner but also the sweet fruit with chocolate, something Daniel enjoyed having but rarely got.

Jack reached out and held out his palm and Daniel pressed his hand into Jack's palm. "This is me letting you know that I love you as much as I did over eleven years ago, in fact that would be an unfair assessment because all the things we've gone through together has only proven to me over and over again what an amazing man you are and how lucky I am that you fell in love with me."

Daniel tucked his chin a little with a smile on his face; he didn't know what to say when Jack got like this. Especially after everything they'd been through more recently. Daniel could look back on Jack's actions and all the trouble and pain, the fear and fighting during Jack's magical pregnancy then he moved from his seat and pressed his mouth to Jack's in a desperate kiss that soothed and excited him. Jack's hands found there way to Daniel's neck and then he was climbing into Jack's lap and pressing as close as he could. Daniel moved back for a second and looked into the glazed brown eyes of his husband and smiled. "Jack, you were always a stubborn son of a gun and there was nothing I wouldn't do for you even when you were making me nuts. I love you so much; it scares the crap out of me sometimes and watching you give it all up for Malachi, watching you give everything to this love and this family. That is the most beautiful miracle I have ever been blessed to witness. So you are going to take me home and we are going to enjoy some sweet privacy."

Jack pressed his hands tightly to Daniel's back and their mouths tangled, tongues danced wetly and their straining erections rubbing against each other, even through multiple layers of clothes. Daniel moaned into the kiss for a moment then they proceeded to feed each other the dinner Jack had prepared for them. Daniel took his time feeding Jack the dessert and sliding his body close to Jack in a slow and lazy rhythm meant to tease and entice. Finally Jack pushed Daniel off of his lap gently then he followed, taking Daniel's mouth again in another hot kiss. Daniel moaned into the contact while Jack pushed them back against the far wall. Daniel lifted his leg, slotted Jack's hips between his legs as if the man was made to fit there; of course they have had over a decade to learn each other's bodies so they did just fit together. Jack pressed Daniel back against the wall again and Jack lifted him up just a little and suddenly the friction was in all the right places and Daniel found himself desperate for Jack so they could return home and pick up where they were bound to leave off here.

"Jack, please?" he moaned.

The retired soldier smiled wickedly before he reached down and jerked open Daniel's fly and shoved his pants and boxers down just enough to fall on his knees and see Daniel to a quick completion. Then when it was over Jack was tugging him across the room and towards the door and they left, walking back towards the house. Daniel followed behind obediently, knowing that not only was he going to be where Malachi was, though he was probably going to be downstairs with Grandpapa Ben but also, Jack and he were not done yet.

They got back to the house in record time, to find it eerily quite, Ben must have taken Malachi down to his 'apartment' in the lowest level of the house, an ingenious addition at Jack's insistence and the rest of their children were with various care givers so it was easy to race up the stairs to their bedroom and close the door, barely locking it before Jack had Daniel pressed against the door again and taking his mouth in a deep never-ending kiss. And while Daniel's mouth was busy trying to keep up with Jack, the older man's hands were every-freaking-where, pulling and tugging at Daniel's clothes until he was bared to the other man's view and they continued the journey to rediscovered passion to which they climbed to the highest height together and tumbled into bliss.

"Jack," Daniel whispered his lover's name like a prayer and he could feel Jack's lips on the back of his neck, the heat of his body keeping Daniel warm without the blankets on top of him. He felt when Jack slipped out, grabbing a small towel to clean Daniel gently, just another way Jack always showed Daniel how much he cared about him.

Daniel gripped Jack's hand and pulled him close and they breathed together slowly.

"Danny, that was perfect, I love you so much. I can't wait to spend another ten years with you."

Daniel smiled, "It's never going to be long enough for me Jack, forever wouldn't be long enough for the love I feel for you."

Jack pulled Daniel's head to the side so their lips would meet, stretching Daniel's neck so he could kiss Jack over his shoulder and they shared a few sweet kisses before the silence was left to fill the room. Daniel always loved that about the moments when he and Jack and they could just be still and quiet together.

At some point they got up and showered and in the comfort of their two person shower, Daniel pushed Jack against one of the walls as water beat down on his shoulders and spattered on Jack as well. Daniel took his husband's lips in a wet kiss, messaging the man's mouth and tongue with his own as he reached down and pressed a warm and wet hand around Jack's cock. The retired General was not really young enough anymore to have multiple orgasms all the time and at home they definitely would be using some aids to help the process but here, Daniel was pleased to grip Jack's member and feel it rise in his hands.

"Two to one isn't fair Jack," Daniel husked into the older man's lips as he grunted at the contact. Daniel made use of his mouth and hands to bring Jack off then they quickly rinsed off. Daniel wore a smug look on his face to match the satiated one on Jack's face while they dried each other and rinsed their mouths and used some paste to clean their teeth. Daniel enjoyed the silliness of making funny faces in the mirror at each other and trading kisses as they changed into their pajamas before leaving the bedroom.

Daniel couldn't help but walk down the stairs and listen for the sweet sounds their little boy usually made. Jack followed close behind him and whenever Daniel turned around it was to see the grin on his face. Daniel rushed to the door leading down to the basement and knocked, a little more enthusiastically then was necessary and Jack chuckled behind him. "Daniel, we've only been away from him for a few hours."

"So?" Daniel responded, daring his husband to say something else.

Jack just held his hands up in surrender as Ben opened the door and immediately handed a smiling Malachi to Daniel. He pressed his son close to his chest and leaned in to give Ben an awkward one armed hug before he just walked away. He could hear Jack and Ben sharing a laugh and a back slapping hug.

"Good anniversary son?" Ben asked Jack.

"Yes sir, thanks for the help with Malachi, I was pretty sure having him close was going to be the only way Daniel could handle the separation this first time."

"Isn't the mother supposed to be the one with separation anxiety?" Ben asked and Daniel snorted even though the joke was on him too.

Jack laughed too and the sounded echoed off of the beautiful walls of their home while Daniel headed for the stairs but he could still hear Jack as he replied, "Daniel is special Pop you know that, he's so the mom."

"Shut up Jack," Daniel shouted happily though he was smiling as well. It was hard not to smile and laugh when Jack laughed like that, strong and full of joy, just how Daniel liked to hear Jack. The sound of his shout caused Malachi to shift in his arms a little and Daniel shushed him gently and decided yelling across the house might not be the best idea he'd had today, when he was holding Malachi anyway. He held his little boy close, looking into those multi colored eyes and he smiled as he slipped his finger down Malachi's nose and the little boy smiled his gummy happy grin. Then Jack was behind him, wrapping his arms around Daniel's waist and he tucked his chin over Daniel's shoulder and they stood there and smiled down at their child. Daniel felt as the heat of Jack's body filtered into him, and the warmth spread to his heart and everywhere that Jack was touching, his back and his waist and his shoulder then Jack pressed a kiss into the side of Daniel's neck and he shifted just a little closer with a sigh.

Daniel couldn't wait to get the rest of his kids home but for now, having their youngest close to his heart and Jack at his back made Daniel as happy as spending some quality time with Jack did.


	3. Acceptance of Self

**Chapter Three: Acceptance of Self**

Jack held Malachi close; feeling like his arm was going to fall off because his baby boy seemed to be growing by the minute. Daniel was wandering around the room, looking anywhere but at Jack because he didn't want to make Jack uncomfortable and honestly Jack was done with all that. He remembered the act of just watching Daniel holding a bottle to Zale's lips, or any of the other children when they were little and had marveled how that incredibly domestic moment would make his heart swell with love for Daniel and here he was hiding from his partner.

"Daniel?" he asked and his wonderful husband stopped and glanced his way and Jack watched that look of utter adoration on Daniel's face for both Jack and Malachi who was suckling quietly at his chest. Then he seemed to remember and quickly looked down at his feet.

"You hungry Jack? I could go make you a snack."

"I don't need a snack, I need you to come here and sit with me."

Daniel shook his head, "No Jack, if I come over there I am going to watch. I won't be able to look away, he's so perfect and beautiful and you are so amazing and I am a little jealous that you get to be so connected to our son like that and I'm gonna shut up now." He cut off his nervous jabbering, all of which was said to the floor with his hands straining in front of him like it was taking every ounce of his self-control to stay on the other side of the room.

Jack waited in silence, knowing Daniel well enough that by not saying anything the younger inquisitive man would not be able to leave his eyes averted. After about a minute of silence Daniel did peek up at Jack through his lashes, Jack jerked his head in a 'get over here' motion from years past since his hands were full of baby at the moment. Daniel softened and walked across the bedroom, dragging a spare chair closer to the rocking chair that Jack was in and he settled down. Daniel reached over and pressed a gentle hand to Malachi's head and the baby grunted a little at the distraction but kept on suckling. Jack watched Daniel who was watching their son and he reached out to press a finger in under Daniel's jaw to make him look at Jack, really look at him and Daniel couldn't deny Jack anything so simple. There was a brush of moisture in Daniel's bright blue eyes and he tried to tuck his chin again but Jack wouldn't let him hide. He was done letting either of them hide because of his insecurities.

"You love me Daniel," Jack said, it wasn't a question. There was no reason to question it after all they'd been through together.

Daniel smiled a little, didn't nod or shift in any other way just smiled, neither of them needed to discuss the veracity of Jack's words.

"You love me no matter what," Jack whispered.

Daniel smiled again before he gripped Jack's wrist gently and kissed Jack's palm, still saying nothing. He didn't need to; this was Jack's epiphany and they knew each other well enough to let the silence be still between them.

"So why am I hiding from you? Why would I hold back from the only person on this planet that has ever known everything there is to know about me, from the worst to the best of me and he still loves me, why would I need to hide?"

Daniel was still smiling, sheen of tears in his eyes. Jack didn't know how he forgot for an instant what kind of love he'd shared with Danny over the years. Daniel should have fought him on it but then again, women had a little bit of time to get used to the idea of their boobs getting bigger whereas Jack had not, it was just another excuse but they both had a part in this, Daniel with his martyring and mothering and Jack for not trusting in the love they shared but they could be done with that. In fact…

"I'm done doing that Daniel; I don't want to hide myself from you, even this weird thing that I am capable of doing for our son. So I want you to look at me, really see me."

So Daniel did, he sat in his chair, held a gentle hand over Malachi's head and his other pressed into the side of Jack's neck which was straining his back but it didn't seem to bother the other man's desperate focus on Jack. With nothing but the suckling coming from the hungry baby in Jack's arms and the pulling on his chest where the milk was located, Daniel watched Jack and Jack watched Daniel. There was never any need for anything else in that moment. Daniel watched and Jack let him, feeling the moment when the comfort and love turned into something closer to passion, a high flush appearing on Daniel's cheeks and then with a cough and a chuckle, Daniel looked away because this was not the time for that. Jack just smiled, knowing and appreciating that even though this had been a strange experience from getting pregnant to the pregnancy till now, that no matter what Daniel had been there. Jack was loved and still is and there was nothing more profound than the knowledge that Jack wasn't alone in this. He thought about what it would have been like if Daniel had been the one to get pregnant instead of him and honestly didn't know how Daniel _didn't_ go crazy with the knowledge that Jack was dying and their child was the cause, Jack didn't know what he would have done but he does know that right now if the situations were reversed and Daniel was breast-feeding, and he shuddered at the thought of those words attached to what he was doing, he knew that he wouldn't love Daniel any less. He knew to the depths of his soul that Daniel with slight swelling in his pecs wouldn't turn Jack off. So why would it be any different for Daniel?

"You love me," Jack said once more, bringing Daniel's gaze back to his.

"Yeah," Daniel responded in a gentle whisper that rang in the quiet room.

The spell was broken a few seconds later when Malachi detached with a pop and burped. Jack chuckled, "That's my boy," he said as he replaced his clothes and started patting the baby's back and rocking him a little. Daniel didn't move from his chair, just staring at Malachi and Jack.

Jack was watching Daniel still, so he saw when his husband's eyes glazed and there was a sudden flash of concern that didn't glance away, just kept growing. "Daniel, what is it?" Jack asked as he rocked the baby to sleep.

"Adrian was here earlier," Daniel started. Jack just waited seen as how that was never a bad thing; Adrian and his family were always welcome in their home. "He touched Malachi and told me something."

"What?" Jack asked, annoyed at the building tension in his gut and Daniel's tiptoeing around the issue.

"Malachi isn't magical at all," Daniel started, "But he's being affected by it somehow."

"What does that mean?" Jack asked, he figured that Malachi probably wouldn't be magical since neither Jack nor Daniel had powers but the other part was worrisome.

"I don't know for sure, does it feel like he's getting big faster than even Zale and Zada did. Do you remember when you were freaking out because you didn't think they should be aging the way they were and it was because of the magic inside them? Well he doesn't have any magic but he was born because of it and you did have an incredibly fast pregnancy. Do you think there's something wrong about that?"

Jack looked down at their sleeping son and did feel that for a one-month-old baby, he was much bigger. He didn't think much of it up until now because all of their children had aged faster than normal for humans, Vannas aged at a slightly accelerated rate, it was something they talked to Akina and Erica about when the Z-twins were born and they were advancing so quickly even Daniel had a hard time keeping up with their learning abilities.

"Then we need to see Erica and Akina, if there's a problem then I want to know now," Jack said with a resolute nod of his head.

"That's what Adrian said, that we should know even though he didn't want to tell me and ruin our anniversary."

"He knew about the anniversary?" Jack asked, no one here really kept track of dates so his enjoyment for having Christmas, anniversaries and birthday parties were something that everyone were intrigued by but didn't understand the need for.

Daniel shook his head, "He just knew you were scheming, I don't keep track of the anniversary as well as you so I didn't mention anniversary, those are just my words. That's always been your love, to honor those days. I just try to honor every day with you and the kids."

Jack flushed a little, amazed that Daniel's words could make him react still after all this time but he didn't hide the response, Daniel didn't have to try to make anniversaries special because he did honor his family every day. Jack just enjoyed showering Daniel with attention.

He looked back down at Malachi and suddenly all that enjoyment from earlier was so far away. He didn't want to lose any time with their youngest son and if that meant they needed to seek out answers then that's what they were going to do.

"We could 'call' up our sitters and have them keep the kids for a little while longer, go see Erica in the morning since everyone was supposed to be home right after breakfast."

Daniel nodded, calling their sitters would consist of using another invention that Sam came up with, using the same kind of technology as a walkie-talkie for short distance communication, all the children carried them these days. Sam had finally put the finishing touches on it right after the fire with the help of some of her magic scientists who worked with Sam to get things to function in this world. Sam could put together all sorts of contraptions but the devices had to be made with the Vannas in mind because most technology still reacted badly in close proximity to Vannas people.

Daniel walked over and lifted the slight contraption and contacted each of the people who were caring for their children, one of them being Akina who didn't take more than a minute to teleport over and appear outside their bedroom door and knock immediately.

Jack rolled his eyes; she was such a worrywart and took any problem against Daniel or their children as a personal affront. Daniel grinned at Jack's expression before he walked over and let her in. To her credit, she didn't come straight to Jack and pull Malachi from Jack's arms. He wouldn't have let her because the baby was sleeping at the moment but sometimes that didn't stop Akina's take no prisoners, 'my way' mentality. He forgave her the behavior for the most part, she was a Queen after all, getting her way is part and parcel to her position and thankfully she does not take it for granted.

"May I touch him, take a reading, it might help getting a sense of what the magic is doing to him. Zara is very knowledgeable on the subject even though neither of us are true healers."

Jack and Daniel nodded, Jack continued to rock their son in the chair and Akina walked over. She pressed her hand gently on his downy soft head and caressed him gently while she closed her eyes. Jack always wondered what it was like for her, what it was like for Zada and Zale especially because they had the Awakened Magis in their heads. He wondered what it was like to reach for this well of power and have it be there to allow these people to do the things they can. Nothing can make life perfect or easy and the Vannas had never spouted that crap thankfully, they had been there for Jack and Daniel when the magic inside the Z-twins was doing more harm than good, they were there to help each child through their training and learning who they were magically speaking since Jack and Daniel would never _know_ a part of their children. Luckily the kids didn't seem to mind and both Jack and Daniel had made sure that the children were never treated different or better determined by their magical abilities.

Finally Akina opened her eyes and frowned down at Malachi then turned to look at Daniel before her eyes came back to Jack once more.

"Yes? And? Therefore?" Jack asked impatiently.

"I sense the curse, the one that supposedly Desire ended before Jack came to the end of his pregnancy. I do not understand what I am sensing, I am concerned that we may have disempowered the twins too quickly."

Jack glared up at her while Daniel slumped down into the chair next to Jack's and there was the glisten of tears in the younger man's eyes. Jack hated that so freaking much. He hated the fear and helplessness in Daniel's eyes. "What does that mean?" he demanded even as he kept his eyes on Daniel.

"Only Desire can undo whatever is happening to your son, same way only she could help Jack."

"Well that's fantastic! Aren't they basically on a life sentence without parole?" Jack demanded and though he couldn't gesture with his arms at the moment since he was holding Malachi, his leg started bouncing a little which made the rocking chair move faster. Daniel eased his hand down on Jack's leg to settle him before he woke Malachi.

Akina, used to a lot of the things Jack had a tendency to say, understood the meaning he was trying to convey though Vannas didn't really have jail or parole. He could feel all of his muscles tensing anyway so Daniel moved his hand up and pressed his palm into the side of Jack's neck for a second before he reached out to take Malachi's sleeping body from Jack's shoulder and walked the baby over to the bassinet next to the bed. Jack watched his husband as the other man placed Malachi in the bed and stood there, running his fingers over the baby's head gently, in comfort and love.

"I will need to send for them, I will possibly have to go to them. I will explain the situation and they will be returned to help your son before they are returned to their 'life sentence' as you say."

"How can you possibly think for a second that they are going to help after everything they did to us?" Jack asked, frowning at the queen in confusion.

"If they don't help, I am going to go with Her Royal Highness and I am going to kill Lust in front of Desire, that's how," Daniel said with such calm certainty Jack was suddenly glad he'd never pissed off his husband, the meek professor who didn't like carrying a gun on missions from years past was truly a thing of the past. This warrior, standing guard over their son, could and would kill for his children and husband. Jack didn't really want to think about how turned on that made him but at the same time, he could sense the underlying fear in himself because he was seeing Daniel in this new ever-changing light. He had to admit it was hard to see, he'd caught glimpses of it for years now and wondered and worried about Daniel losing himself but maybe the truth of it was, this was the strong warrior he was always meant to be, someone capable of loving kindness and cold certainty for the sake of his family, in the same person. Jack would never truly know how Daniel felt about all the changing but he could accept it in the man he loved but he wondered if he had been a little distant about talking about the changes Daniel had been going through.

He would do something to change that at his earliest possible chance.

Akina shook her head at Daniel but didn't argue with the man's declaration probably because she understood that if she didn't take Daniel then he would find his own way and that wouldn't be good for anyone, she would have to save him then clean up his mess and all sorts of things and Akina had learned a long time ago that when Daniel made a decision, he didn't sway from it easily. It usually took an act of force and magic to get him to budge and mostly it just wasn't worth the effort it would take to change his mind.

"I must go and see to this, seek out Erica and I will share with her my suspicions as well."

Jack and Daniel nodded at her, watching as she blinked out of the room, leaving nothing in her place. Jack smiled, amused suddenly at the irony of him being so blasé about magic and things the Vannas were capable of, not to mention the things his children were capable of. He had wondered when Malachi was born, when he realized the little boy wasn't transferring his emotions to Jack and Daniel the way all the other Jackson-O'Neill children were capable of, he wondered if he would feel any different but it wasn't true. Whether his youngest son was normal or magical, it didn't matter to Jack. He knew it meant they would have to be sure Malachi was protected since non-magical people are considered weak in this world by some, most of those people had learned their lesson going against Jack and Daniel in the past, even Sam and Teal'c had suffered attacks because of their 'normal human' status but SG-1 had always prevailed. Other than needing to be protected in a slightly different way than the rest of Jack's kids, he couldn't feel any different about Malachi than he did about his other five children.

"How you doing Jack?" Daniel asked soothingly as the archeologist walked across the room and resettled in the chair next to Jack.

Jack sighed, pressing a hand to his flat stomach, thinking back to over a month and a half ago when Malachi had been nestled inside his stomach, causing problems but ever the blessing in his birth father's mind. He didn't know how to answer Daniel's question, stalling in his silence but Daniel reached out and pressed a hand over his and their gazes locked.

"I don't know Danny. I can't lose him, not after everything we've been through."

Daniel nodded, "I don't know if you figured it out but I am going to kill one of them if they don't fix this. I'm dead serious about that Jack."

Jack kept staring into his lover's bright blue eyes and smiled a sad little smile. "I get that you're serious Daniel and I guess I am just a little shocked how serious you are. Not that long ago you would be spouting off about life being more important than anything we could possibly kill for, it didn't make you very popular here if you remember?"

Daniel shrugged and he tried to sit back in his chair but Jack gripped Daniel's hand where it was still pressed to his flat stomach to keep him close even as he spoke. "I remember Jack, I also remember all the things that happened because of my opinion. I remember Johnny getting hurt and you getting hurt over and over." He suddenly grew silent and his eyes widened in what could have been a comical expression if it wasn't for the fear in Daniel's eyes. "Oh my god, why are you bringing this up right now?"

"Huh? Daniel, I have just been worried about you and we haven't really had the time to delve into everything that we've gone through recently. Erica only has so many hours in a day and we've been so focused on the kids."

Daniel gulped, Jack's eyes stayed locked on the younger man's throat at the nervous movement. Jack shifted a little in his seat, the milk in his 'breasts' leaked a little into the band he kept them wrapped it and his cock suddenly remembered how much Daniel turned him on, if the way he swallows could make him hard. He ignored the desire to turn this into a sexy moment but Daniel was still looking like Jack was about to leave him. He frowned at the thought and squeezed Daniel's hand almost painfully before he spoke, "Fer-crying-out-loud Danny, I am not going to leave you!" the words were hissed into the room but kept pitched low enough that it wouldn't wake Malachi.

Daniel frowned, "Wha? How did you even figure that was what I was sorta-maybe thinking?"

Jack gave him a look that very clearly Daniel to be the dumbest genius in the world. To which Daniel looked down at their hands, "I was never like this before, so much has happened and I can't be the man you fell in love with anymore. I don't know how to go back to being that guy; I would do that for you if I could Jack you have to believe me. I just can't go backwards."

Jack leaned forward and pulled Daniel's hand around his side as he pressed his free hand into the side of Daniel's neck, he pulled his husband close enough to where their foreheads touched as he listened to the sniffling forced-down sobs coming from Daniel's lips. He gripped Daniel's neck gently, not enough to hurt but with enough force that it would get the other man to focus on what was about to come out of his mouth.

"Do you love me any less because I have become a stay at home dad, someone who breastfeeds my child and cries at the drop of a hat? Do you love me any less because I am a ridiculous romantic instead of a hard-ass Colonel that I used to be?" The list consisted of only a few things Jack had done seemingly out of character since becoming magically pregnant or since they'd been together. Women were right about one thing; the pregnancy hormones were a bitch.

Daniel shook his head before Jack even stopped talking, "Of course not Jack, I have seen the strength and love in you in new ways, made me love you even more. I told you that."

"I know Daniel and I believe you and now I'm asking you to believe me when I say the man you are today because of all the things we've gone through together, I don't see them as hard or wrong. I don't see you as any less of my Danny and the kind and loving husband and father you have always been. You're just different and I love you no matter what. This conversation isn't about moving backwards, its about making sure you're doing okay with the changes as well, this isn't about us, this is about you being okay."

Daniel hiccupped a little, sniffled inelegantly before he whispered, "Oh." The breath of the one syllable wafted across Jack's cheek and he didn't even try to stop himself from slotting his lips against Daniel's and taking the other man's mouth in a deep reaffirming kiss. Jack knew he was so much better at the word stuff now than he was when he and Daniel first got together but there were times when pressing every emotion he had for Daniel into a kiss was the best way he could communicate.

Daniel moaned into the contact, his other hand shaking as it reached out and gripped the back of Jack's neck. He stood from his chair, pulling Daniel with him as they awkwardly stumbled towards the bed, Jack had no illusions about having an abundance of time, not with Malachi napping so close but he wanted to be able to settle this with Daniel now. He pressed Daniel gently into the bed; they easily curled into each other. The ease of the move born of years of curling in close to one another before and after marriage though more than once they'd blamed cold or close quarters for cuddling off world in small tents. A silly and easy-to-see through excuse but at the time they needed to hide everything they were to each other, so the excuses had been accepted. Now, thankfully, there was no need for lies and secrets.

Daniel tucked his head in tight under Jack's chin and the retired General smiled and held his husband close, they didn't need to have sex or fool around right now and if Daniel wasn't up for it then he would leave it for now. They had both been through so much and the affirmation that they each still loved each other, were turned on by each other, didn't need to be proven through the physical act of sex, this moment was far more intimate and loving in Jack's estimation. It was one of the greatest joys he'd found in Daniel's company, something he barely allowed his ex-wife to see when they were together which was something he regretted but he knew that this was where he was supposed to be now.

"Jack, what are we going to do?" Daniel whispered and Jack didn't really know what they were talking about so he waited, he knew Daniel would finish his thought in a minute. And he didn't have to wait much more than thirty seconds, "What if they won't help? What if we lose him after what we went through, what you went through, to have him?"

Malachi of course, Daniel would always think of their children first. It was who he was. Jack didn't want to talk about losing his baby boy, he'd survive Charlie's death only because Daniel walked him through, got him back from Abydos alive and helped him through the roughest patch and that was as strangers in the beginning. Daniel was there when Zale was that age, when Johnny had been stabbed. He'd learned how to keep moving forward but it didn't keep the fear from rising up inside him. He sighed and whispered into Daniel's forehead.

"We are going to wait and see what the Queen can do then we are going to do exactly what you said, we are going to find them and demand action or they can deal with the consequences of pissing off two very protective fathers."

Daniel sniffled again and nodded against Jack's chin and lips. Jack pressed a hand into the back of Daniel's neck, just holding it there as a warm and loving presence of support while Daniel fell apart in his arms. He cried quietly, talking about walking in to the burning house and trying to salvage anything. Daniel talked about the fear and anger of when Jack was pregnant and getting sicker by the day. He talked until his throat gave out and then Jack just whispered loving words to him, and they watched the darkness fall outside and Malachi woke for his evening meal before Jack rocked him to sleep again, leaving the baby in Daniel's loving arms while he wandered down to put together a simple meal of soup and bread since Daniel wasn't very hungry after the days events. They were still planning on waking early the next day to seek out Erica and learn what she had to say so Jack figured there was no need to get Daniel up and about when his husband still seemed a bit bleary eyed with all the emotional upheaval of earlier. While Jack put a tray together of food he stopped and pressed his hands into the counter top, one reaching up to press at his forehead, then moved down to his eyes as his eyes swelled with tears. Daniel wasn't the only one falling apart a little inside at the prospect of their son having a curse on him. He was an innocent child and Desire had done what she had to turn Malachi into a burden and a curse for Daniel and Jack from his conception but even now Jack was grateful to feel no ill will to his little boy, it wasn't just genetic. Malachi wasn't at fault for this, Desire was.

She couldn't stick to the agreement she made with Jack and Daniel because of what happened to her and her sister, neither one of them could honor the bargain Daniel and Jack tried to strike with them last year when they returned for the kids. This was their fault, Jack and Daniel were both secure in the knowledge that they had just been trying to keep their children safe and happy and loved. Something, it seemed, Lust and Desire were not capable of giving to themselves or the children. The only person each of them loved was the other twin, it was their leverage against them when Jack had been sick and Daniel used it and honestly neither father was afraid to use it again.

With a deep breath, Jack straightened and rubbed the tears from his face before he climbed back up to the bedroom and opened the door to see Daniel laying on his side with one hand pressed into Malachi's belly where he was laying on the bed. He was one of the happiest babies Jack had ever been around, he remembered the squalling fits of Janet and Claire, all the nightmares with Johnny and he wondered how someone so small and defenseless could be so happy all the time, then again Malachi knew he was with the people who loved him.

That had to make a difference.

Daniel looked up when he entered and smiled as Jack brought the food over to share. They settled with Malachi between them on the bed, eating in silence and wondering what was going to come next in the morning. Jack was happy that in all there time together, finally they were getting used to the idea that just because something wasn't going the way they thought it would or should, they didn't get all crazy and decide getting together was a bad idea. He remembered more than one time in the past when Daniel would think that all he'd done was bring chaos to Jack's life and was it worth it?

Yes.

Then there were a couple times when Jack knew that all he'd done was bring pain to Daniel's life, though he knows now that isn't true but at the time he would demanded Daniel tell him if it had all been worth it, was Jack worth it?

Daniel had always said yes.

Now they just believed, finished their dinner and cuddled their son, secure in the knowledge that it was all worth it to both of them and they would face whatever was coming in due time.


	4. Medical Versus Magical

**Chapter Four: Medical VS Magical**

Daniel woke in the middle of the night just long enough to see Jack nursing Malachi then he slipped into a light sleep until the next time the little boy's calls demanded attention. He got up and changed the baby then pressed him close to Jack who was preparing to feed him again, Jack complaining the whole time with a grin on his face. It may have been a while since they had to take care of a baby but Jack had always loved this part. The scientist just hoped that they were going to have more time to enjoy it with Malachi than they seemed to have at the moment.

With that slightly worrisome thought Daniel walked out of the bedroom, wanting to go check on their kids then remembering that they weren't here right now. His shoulders slumped a little walking down to the kitchen and making breakfast for only two, it felt wrong after all these years with the children. He shook off the sadness while he cooked eggs with sausage and warmed some bread on the 'flameless stove' they had in the kitchen, it was crude in a way that it was a flat surface with spell work and mechanics working together to bring heat and flame to them with the twist of a knob (buttons were a little to technical for Vannasland) and Daniel appreciated the amenities that were freakishly like what he'd left behind in the past, of course Sam and Jack had a lot to do with that, the first couple months they were here, they'd been using open flames and fire pits to cook but Jack and Sam apparently couldn't leave anything alone so the soldier would go to his former second-in-command and ask if she could find a way to make whatever he wanted and because she was bored and in need of mental exercise Sam would just nod and send him away while she worked. The walkie-talkies were her latest and greatest invention, something Daniel appreciated a lot since Jack and Daniel didn't have the magical ability of telepathy, which is how every magical mama on this island stayed in contact with her children.

Daniel turned off the heat source and walked back up the stairs to his and Jack's bedroom and bumped the door open and found Jack resting on the bed, his eyes closed and Malachi on his chest. Jack's hand was rubbing across Malachi's back, just slightly moving in comfort while the proud Papa napped. Daniel recognized the slight tears tracks on Jack's face but as he cleared his throat and walked over to the small bedside table and placed Jack's food there he ignored his husband while Jack wiped away the evidence not that either of them were fooled. Daniel respected Jack's desire to be strong for his family, knowing that if he needed to fall apart, it would happen when Malachi and the rest of the children weren't around to see the worst of it.

And Daniel would be there to see him through like he'd been for a lot of years already.

They didn't hide the hard times from the kids, neither Daniel nor Jack believed it was healthy but they needed to be strong for the children especially since Zale and Zada were so overwhelmingly responsible and they believed they should be protecting Daniel and Jack, not the other way around. He turned back towards Jack, leaned down and pressed his lips gently into his husband's lips, tasting the saltiness of tears in the kiss and felt when Jack sank into the contact and smiled. This was something that they had done well for a long time, finding comfort in touch. When they were friends and colleagues, it was a hand to a shoulder or an arm slung around each other's shoulders. Then after they were tossed forcibly into this relationship and discovered that Love had a point and they really wanted to be together, it was holding hands and being in constant contact. Jack had surprised Daniel a little bit because he hadn't truly known what Jack would do with all the new feelings when he became such a cuddle monster but not really.

So Daniel moved back just enough to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth then slid his nose gently up the side of Jack's face and pressed another kiss to the corner of Jack's eye, feeling the tears once more, concentrated there. Daniel pressed a second kiss there and shifted so he could whisper into Jack's skin, "I know love, we are going to fight until we can't anymore for him then we are going to get up and do it again. We can do this together."

Jack nodded and Daniel moved away to take Malachi so Jack could sit up in the bed. Daniel pressed his son into his shoulder, noticing again the heft of him before he moved around to the other side of the bed while Jack started in on breakfast, feeding Daniel bites of toast and the food while he settled Malachi between his legs and started rubbing the little boy's feet, moving up his legs and continued the gentle message. "He hasn't been fussing overly much, that's not just me thinking he's perfect right?"

Jack frowned then shook his head, "No, he's not any more fussy than any of the others when they were a baby, what are you thinking?"

"I'm just thinking, growing pains. If he were growing at an accelerated rate, wouldn't the growing pains be even harder or more painful?"

Jack shrugged, "Possibly but maybe its not enough growth rate to cause an actual reaction of pain, not to say it isn't a bad thing because depending on the rate he is just going to be hurting later and we are going to lose him much faster but maybe he's not in pain presently."

Daniel nodded, hoping Jack was right. He didn't like to think that their little boy had been hurting and they hadn't seen it. They knew there was something wrong now and they were going to do what they needed to do, as they always had. He continued to share his breakfast with Jack and rubbed Malachi's skin gently, even as he slept, little sighs of happiness slipping out of the baby's mouth every once in a while.

"You got him while I take this stuff down to the kitchen?" Jack asked after they were done. Daniel didn't even look away from Malachi to nod in answer. Jack chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to the side of Daniel's head then the bed dipped as Jack stood up and left with the remains from breakfast.

Daniel was left with his adorable baby boy and his thoughts; the first was welcome and a completely wonderful thing while the second was destroying any chance of him being calm. He thought about all the time in the first month and a half when he was trying to make Jack abort the baby, his little spark and all he wanted was his Jack back. The man who became pregnant and struggled with the emotional baggage of carrying a baby to term, even at the accelerated rate was a hard thing to see but Daniel had just become what he had to, he became the protector so Jack could survive this. He thought about the times when Daniel had demanded someone destroy the baby before it stole Jack away from him. Jack had been the only thing he'd wanted to keep. He didn't want to live without Jack, there was nothing in him that felt like he could handle that but now as he looked down at their son. This was _their_ biological son and if he had destroyed him then Daniel would have never met this beautiful baby boy and he would have lost Jack anyway. Losing Charlie still hit Jack in the heart, and almost losing Malachi during the pregnancy had reopened that wound over and over again, making it impossible for Jack to see the situation as saving a life or losing two up until Desire had made it possible for Jack to survive.

He wondered, not for the first time if he would have had the strength to keep going during the pregnancy like Jack had. He didn't think so but then Jack had said more than once he would have done it too, this was just how things has played out. There was nothing left to say and the only thing left to do was raise Malachi, love all of their children and see them to adulthood and hopefully that wouldn't come so fast for their youngest that they lost him in the end to premature old age or from some complications of aging to fast.

Jack slipped back into the bedroom and Daniel was still holding Malachi close, rocking a little from side to side on the bed. Daniel looked up as Jack climbed back onto the bed and settled next to Daniel and pressed a quick kiss to the side of Daniel's head. Then he resettled and crossed an arm under his distended chest, looked down at himself and sighed. He chuckled and Daniel frowned as Jack started talking, "Do you remember after we got married, when you made that joke about how you would love me even if I got fat? Well ta-da!"

Daniel smiled, that was such a long time ago. He hadn't remembered it really because it was a little bit of laughter in the midst of so many good days and hard days. It was a tiny moment in the story of Jack and Daniel but he nodded because what he did remember was Jack's look of utter confusion then he had just laughed and it was one of Daniel's favorite expressions on his husband.

Then he leaned over and pressed his mouth to Jack's in a long and lingering kiss, "I still love you Jack but you're not fat."

Jack's eyes misted a little but Daniel figured a little of it was for real and the rest of it was for show and for the humor of the moment, "You say the nicest things Dr. Jackson."

Daniel winked at Jack, kissed him again and looked back down at their sleeping son. He sighed, "We should get ready and go see Erica, see what she has to say about all this."

Jack nodded then got up and got changed then he pulled Malachi into his arms and the baby fussed at the movement. Jack shushed the baby gently as he rocked their son as Daniel got up and changed as well. Daniel watched as Jack gently changed the baby's diaper then put on a small onesie, courtesy of some of the ladies in the Valley. They had plenty of things for Malachi as soon as he was born, gifts made quickly when the people realized there was a need. No one asked questions about the baby's existence or parentage, this was Vannasland where magical things happened and people thankfully just left it alone but Jack and Daniel had opened their apartment door more than once when they were living at the castle to find the things they would need gently laid out on the floor next to the door and nothing to let them know who gave it to them. They walked downstairs and out of the house and headed towards Erica's home. He remembered when Erica and Alec moved back here to the Valley permanently, something had happened in one of the Zarcorp facilities and her cover had been blown pretty spectacularly but she'd been able to escape unmarred, when she arrived it had been to hugs and many happy people including Akina and William as well as Jack and Daniel. Erica had always been there for them, same as Akina and her family, the healer had done so much for them over the years and she had honestly been happy to return home to the Valley for the last time.

Daniel wondered at the time if she had just woken up that day and decided she was going to blow her cover on purpose but he also knew that Erica loved her people and the queen more than she loved being among them so he'd tossed that theory to the side and had just been happy to have her there when Jack and his family had needed her and trusted so few with their hearts and truths.

So bringing Malachi to Erica, it was one of the few people Daniel and Jack agreed was trustworthy. Daniel had one hand pressed to the hilt of his dagger that was latched to his belt while Jack held the baby, most of the time no one bothered them anymore, when Daniel and Zale fought and killed the kidnapper, everything and everyone was reminded once again of the fierce love and protection that was in the Jackson-O'Neill house but it didn't stop Daniel from keeping his hand on the hilt of his weapon. They walked in peaceful silence all the way to the healer's residence and Daniel knocked while Jack cooed and whispered to Malachi's head. Daniel could just barely hear what he was saying, "Hey baby, we're going to get help and you are going to be just fine."

Daniel swallowed against the desire to kill the sisters for doing this to them, if only the queen would let him. He took a deep breath and smiled as Erica opened the door and waved them in. They walked in and settled in the open area of her home, Elle was playing with her younger brother Dom at the table. She waved to them and Daniel smiled back before he settled next to Jack and then they were reaching out and pressing Malachi gently into Erica's waiting arms. The little boy smiled a gummy grin at the woman even though she hadn't seen him since Malachi was born. He was such a happy baby and Daniel didn't want to see that slip away in pain of the curse, whatever it may be doing to him.

"Did Akina talk to you?" Jack asked as she settled into another of the comfortable chairs in the living room.

She nodded a little, "Let me seek out the truth, let me speak to your son."

"Will you tell us if he's hurting, if there is something that we've been missing?" Daniel asked, shuddering a little at the possibility. Jack pressed an arm over Daniel's shoulder and he pressed into the loving contact. Erica was left nodding and then she was closing her eyes and everything went silent in the room. It was eerie sometimes when the Vannas used their powers, it changed something in the air but once again this was a moment when he wished more than anything magic would give them an answer that would help protect their son.

After a few minutes Elle walked over and gave each of them a quick hug then moved over to her mother and pressed a warm kiss to Malachi's head, despite her mother's absence from the baby's life so far, Elle had been to see them a couple of times every week, sometimes daily and she loved Malachi, she felt something for him. There was a bond born from everything she had done when she saved Malachi and Jack, it was something Daniel had asked her about on one of her many visits. He was used to magical bonds and love born connections that mean something so much more than Daniel had ever experienced until he got here. Now there was magic in the bonds between spouses, there was always something special between parents and children and he was grateful for it.

Daniel watched as Erica finally opened her eyes and she frowned as she stood and handed Malachi back to Jack. Daniel pressed a hand to the warm downy scalp of his son and waited as she reclaimed her chair. She took a deep breath and looked over at them.

He sighed miserably, seeing the answer on their friend's face, "It's the curse isn't it? Like Akina thought."

Erica nodded slowly and Daniel turned as Jack sucked in a deep breath through his nose and kept holding on to his son. Daniel just kept touching them both gently and waited for her to speak again. They both just waited.

"I cannot be totally sure as to the rate of growth but he is aging rapidly, more so than a Vannas child would. I know that part of the curse at the time was that your rate of the pregnancy was a third of the time, I think it may be possible that is the rate of growth but as is the case with many curses, the longer it resides in the body the more horrifying the effects can be. It is possible that the rate of growth might continue to climb. I need to seek out Akina and Damnation. Desire is the only one who can undo the curse, to release him to age normally. I cannot do anything else for him other then get them back here and get Desire to undo what she's done. I should have checked him again in the beginning; I knew that Jack was no longer cursed because I believe that this small piece of the curse was attached to the Spark itself, not to the gestation and the part of the curse that was infecting Jack. I apologize for my oversight, Desire and Lust are clearly capable of so much more harm than we originally understood."

Daniel took a deep breath, tried to keep his breathing normal even as he could hear the labored breathing coming out of Jack next to him. He reached over and pulled his husband close and pressed his head to Jack's temple and rocked them both a little. "Okay, what can we do then?"

Erica sighed and held her hands up in surrender it seemed, "Keep him comfortable and happy, feed and play with him and start tracking his growth. We shall continue keeping an eye on him and allow his siblings to touch him and track his emotions as well. They might be able to tell us something that his physical being may not be able to answer alone. I am deeply sorry that I do not have more."

Daniel nodded but he was keeping most of his attention on the fact that Jack was not calming down. His breathing was still erratic and Malachi was feeling his tension, starting to whimper in response. Daniel reached out and pressed his hand along Malachi's back and Jack immediately released the little boy to his Daddy while he stood up and started pacing. Erica stood and stepped into Jack's path and he stopped to frown at her. She reached out and pulled him close for a hug, the slight woman barely able to press her chin over his shoulder. Daniel watched as she squeezed her eyes closed on the tears that were trying to escape from the edge of her lashes and she whispered something into Jack's ear. Daniel was too busy trying to soothe away Malachi's whimpers, which were trying to trip into cries that they hadn't heard much of since he was born. Malachi had so far been such a calm baby so far that Daniel realized he may not be connected to them magically but he did understand moods very well.

Finally Daniel figured that they weren't going to keep him from crying while Jack was struggling with this. They needed to get back home, get their children home start figuring out what to do next. Daniel got up off the couch with the still whimpering Malachi, his arms twisting out from his body as he started to struggle a little against Daniel's hold. "We should go Jack, he might be getting hungry again and you need some rest."

Jack nodded woodenly then before they could try to exit the house, Erica placed her hand on both of them and suddenly they were transported into their front room and she was gone again. Daniel rolled his eyes before he led Jack back upstairs while Malachi expressed his displeasure at teleporting and not getting the undivided attention sans the mood swings he was getting at the moment. Daniel walked Jack back to their bedroom and pressed the fussy baby into Jack's arms who immediately acted to soothe the child. It gave the older father something to focus on while his mind was still all wrapped up in what he found himself unable to do for his son. He couldn't do anything besides keep him comfortable. All they could do was track his growth and wonder how long they would have with him.

It wasn't a comforting thought whatsoever.

And it wasn't getting any better when Malachi was rest comfortably against Jack to have some midmorning food and Jack was looking down at his son with that half loving and half petrified look on his face. He was sitting up against the head board and he started speaking low but enough that Daniel could hear him.

"I remember hearing the gunshot," he started and Daniel held his breath. They had talked from time to time about Charlie but it was still such a rarity that Daniel didn't want to distract him from whatever he was willing to say. "Can you imagine if we had something like this place when he was alive, he would be here right now. Modern medicine couldn't save him, there was no way but here there could have been a chance. The only reason I am thinking about that and thinking about this is that now is that again its interesting to know deep in our hearts that sometimes medicine will never be enough and sometimes magic will never be enough."

Daniel walked over to the bed and settled next to Jack. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of Malachi's head then leaned in and pressed a kiss to Jack's cheek. "Sometimes nothing is ever enough Jack, sometimes nothing can stop the end from coming but I refuse to believe that the end is coming for our son right now. This is just the bad news before the work begins. How many times has the Vannas come through for us? How many time have they kept us from seeing the end even when we should, just think of all the times that Sam and I figured things out in the end. This isn't Charlie all over again, this is like all the times we have come back from the brink and we are going to do it again. Okay?"

Jack shrugged then Malachi finished eating with a smack of his tiny lips and Jack moved to adjust his clothes before he rubbed their son's back gently until he burped so Daniel got up and moved to settle the baby in his crib before he moved back over to the bed. As he climbed back in he shifted Jack down on the bed so he could pull Jack close in a tight hug.

Jack came willingly and gripped Daniel to him and faltered. Daniel closed his eyes against the sound of Jack's fear and agony as it ripped out from his throat in heaving gasps and heartbreaking sobs. Daniel pressed a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing his fingers and palm down over the back of Jack's head in comfort and whispered soothing words to him. "I know love, I know. This is not the end. I'm right here okay love."

Jack nodded spastically against Daniel's shoulder and just cried. Daniel knew this was coming as soon as they learned there was something wrong with Malachi, that there was something to be worried about. He knew this was going to hurt Jack so much more than anything they'd ever gone through because Jack had a connection to Malachi that in a lot of ways was just as powerful as the magical ones they shared with their other children, possibly even more powerful.

They couldn't lose Malachi and as he held Jack tight to his chest and offered his husband comfort and love, he determined that they weren't going to lose their beautiful baby boy.


	5. Only Thing to Do Now Is

p class="MsoNormal"a name="OLE_LINK6"/aa name="OLE_LINK5"/aspan style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Chapter Five: Only Thing to Do Now Is…/strong/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"Jack allowed himself the time to fall apart; it was the duration of Malachi's afternoon nap. They had lunch and he stayed in bed, curled up in Daniel's arms and just cried. He allowed all the fears and feelings to overrule him, he allowed it to break into his heart and feed the pain and agony they had gone through without having had a chance to really deal with it. Jack knew how to handle the problem, but he didn't know how to deal with the pain leftover, that was Daniel's area of experience. He was amazingly strong when it came to getting up and just continuing to work through the fear and the pain. Jack knew how to shoot the problem and hope it went away in the long run. He had learned so much about feeling his feelings thanks to all the living and struggles they'd had over the years but this, this was every feeling in failure from Charlie heaped on top of the emotions run rampant from the magical pregnancy and now the curse that continued./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"So he sobbed and grunted angrily at the unfairness of their innocent son being harmed by something that he had nothing to do with and by the time Daniel was getting up to pick up a fussy Malachi to change him, Jack was done freaking out. He closed his eyes, swiped at the remnants of his tears and took three deep breaths, in through his nose and out through his mouth. He got out of bed and walked up behind where Daniel was standing over their son, wiping his skin clean before redressing him and hugged his wonderful husband from behind, whispering into his ear. "Thank you Danny."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"Daniel nodded, shifted a little and pressed a kiss to Jack's cheek, "Always here for you Jack."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"Jack pressed a kiss to the side of Daniel's neck before he reached down and laid a gentle hand on Malachi's stomach before he moved away and walked towards the bedroom door and walked out just to hear some voices drifting up the stairs. He smiled before he called back to Daniel, "Hurry up, I think our kids are home," before he rushed down the stairs and looked around. He stayed quiet long enough to pinpoint that the voices were coming from the backyard and headed that way. He knew Danny was going to be right behind him, they were hopelessly in love with their children and it was a love affair both fathers shared equally. He opened the back door and scraped together the energy to burst out onto the porch in excitement. It wasn't hard to continue when they turned and shouted excitedly to his presence. Teal'c, Sam, Adrian, Ben and Jacob were all there scattered about with all the children. As soon as all the Jackson-O'Neill's caught sight of their Papa, they stopped and turned in unison and raced towards the porch. Jack leaned down and caught them in his arms and they all hugged and laughed together. He just flopped down to sit and accepted the enthusiastic welcome. They'd only been away from each other for a day but Jack didn't care that missing his kids after a day made him a ridiculous sap. He just squeezed them close, pressed kisses to whatever bits of skin he could make contact with while they chattered about what they were doing with their babysitters and in their classes./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"After a few seconds of all that focused loving it was upset by Daniel's entrance with Malachi to which all the children immediately moved over to hug and kiss their Daddy and little brother. Jack watched with a bittersweet smile on his face. He hoped this wouldn't be a short-term thing, having a healthy Malachi with the rest of their family. Then he quickly pushed it back and focused on his family. They were going to have the afternoon with friends, then when it was just the eight of them again, they could talk through what was happening with Malachi and what Erica and Akina were going to do about it. Jack didn't want to worry them without need but the children would just sense the fear they were hiding so there was no point in lying or omitting it from them. For now though they wouldn't talk about it until it was just the family. Adrian and the others would know too but it would take time, when it wasn't so fresh for Jack and Daniel./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"For now they just hugged their children and played in the backyard until it was time to make dinner. Jack was settled in one of the deck rocking chairs with Malachi in his arms when Daniel walked back inside the house to start dinner with Zada and Zale right behind him. Daniel pressed a gentle hand to Jack's shoulder on his way past and Jack smiled as he turned back to watch Janet and Claire running around with Ishtar and Jake. Haikon was sitting with his grandfather and father near Jack on the porch while Ben chatted with Sam from the other side of the yard. He kept his focus on his beautiful healthy children, ignoring the fact that despite what he could see, Malachi wasn't going to remain healthy. Again Jack shook off the thoughts and held his sleeping infant in his arms and just kept rocking gently. Time passed from one moment onto the next until Daniel was calling them in for dinner and everyone tumbled inside to clean up before settling in at the table. Jack watched as Sam and Teal'c waved goodbye and he nodded in gratitude, his father moved forward and pulled Jack up and followed him inside./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"Jack took the plate Daniel was holding out to him and he smiled before he settled at the table with all the other children around him. Daniel started a conversation in another language, he'd been teaching them Aramaic but they might also be using Arabic at the moment because they were using the language with ease. Daniel must've been tired and strung out as well at the moment so he wasn't feeling up to the work required to work a new language. Jack ate the roast and potatoes that Daniel had cooked and watched as Malachi started to wake up and whimper and squirm. He started shifting against Jack's chest so he finished eating, jiggling the baby a little and trying to keep him calm but his whimpers were starting to trip into crying so he took the blanket that Daniel held out and draped it over his shoulder and shifted so he could feed Malachi. He did it without thinking for the first time since Malachi was born, he didn't think about what others would say or think of him, he didn't worry about Daniel or his Pop or the kids. He just fed his son, with that realization he looked up and over to where Daniel was doing the dishes, or rather he wasn't. Daniel was standing there, with sudsy hands and a plate gripped in one hand while he just stared at Jack with a blissed out expression on his face, one full of awe and appreciation that made it difficult to look at him. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"Jack just ducked his head and ignored all those feelings he didn't even know to do with and just focused on feeding Malachi before he burped and resettled the baby boy on his knee to stare at his brothers and sisters. He repositioned his clothing and went back to listening as his children chattered happily, not paying any attention to the big moment their parents were having right now. He could hear that Daniel was still cleaning, scrubbing a little more vigorously then was probably necessary but they were both dealing with things in their own way. As dinner wound down and Janet and Claire were helping dry the dishes before they were being put away Zada broke the silence, "May we please have the conversation you both are dreading?" she asked the question politely and without malice or rudeness, she just wanted to see it done. Jack chuckled and nodded. Daniel and he ushered everyone into the living room and they settled there together. All the kids shoved close together on the couch with Jack and Daniel on chairs facing them with Pop in one of the arm chairs. Jack knew there was no way he was keeping his father out of this, he loved Malachi as much as he loved the other children, he was closer to the little boy in some ways because he'd been here when their youngest had been born./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""Well we went to speak to Miss Erica and Lady Zarkina about Malachi," Jack started./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""Why?" Zale asked./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""Well," Jack hedged unsure where to start with this. It wasn't as easy to point ad blame when the culprit was still the girls' bio-mom and they were hurt by her actions, same as the boys and Lust. He wanted to be sensitive to that despite the fact that Desire's life was ultimately forfeit when she left the curse on their son after she promised she'd removed it. Jack wasn't going to stop Daniel anymore; he wanted her head on a spike just as much as his husband at this point./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""When Papa was cursed, when we both were, by Desire part of the curse was for Papa's gestation of Malachi would be much quicker. This would make it even harder on Papa's body and Malachi, when Desire undid the curse she didn't remove the accelerated growth part of the curse. Miss Erica confirmed it this morning that his aging is three times faster than normal."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""But we age faster than you and Papa?" Zale asked, "We're okay."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""You are aging faster because you are half Vannas, Malachi shouldn't be because he's completely human despite the magical pregnancy," Daniel returned easily./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""What does this mean?" Zada asked, her voice cracking a little under the desire to stay calm when Jack could tell she was shuddering a little in emotion. This was her bio-mom's fault; she was struggling with that and the truth that she invited the woman back into her life in some small way. Jack may not be able to magically read minds but both the Z-twins had the Jackson tendency to pull every scrap of guilt into them in any given situation. He'd been dealing with that for years now./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""As of right now, he is about 30 days old but he has aged to about 90 days old," Daniel responded point blank. The kids still didn't quite know what to do with those numbers but Daniel continued even though Jack didn't know if he really wanted to make sure they understood. "If this does not get fixed, by the time he's been alive for one year he will be physically three then six then nine. By the time he's been alive for ten years, he will have aged to thirty. We don't know what that means for him mentally, all we know right now is his lifetime has been cut down tremendously. We don't much more than that and Miss Erica said it might get worse. I know this is a lot to tell you and I wish we didn't have to but you guys are all so smart and you know when Papa and I are upset and we have never lied to you about things like this and I know Papa and I both didn't want to start now. Just be patient with us as we learn more, figure out what can be done to save him and to give him a normal life."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"Jack didn't realize until Malachi's annoyed grunts made it to his ears that he was shaking, freaked out again. He immediately loosened his tightening grip and tried to take a couple deep breaths. Hearing that essentially their baby boy would maybe never live a normal life and to have such a truncated life expectancy was terrifying. He honestly hadn't even thought about the mental deficiencies that might crop up because Malachi's body was growing but his body wasn't capable of keeping up. He hadn't thought about what kind of damage aging quickly could truly do to their son until his partner had spoke the words so clearly./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""Jack, let me have him," Daniel whispered as he leaned over and Jack realized again that his shaking still wasn't under control and Malachi was upset with his stressed out Papa. Jack nodded and handed Malachi over to Daniel gently and his husband immediately calmed the whimpering baby against his shoulder before he took another couple of deep breaths and looked over at the rest of his children. They were all staring at the floor, little sucking breaths coming out of all of them. They were trying so hard to pull it together, they loved Malachi as much as Daniel and Jack did and they deserved to be sad about this too. Jack clucked his tongue a little and brought some brown and blue eyes up to him./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;""Come on babies, its okay to be sad and scared. You are not failing me or Daddy by being upset about this."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK5;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK6;"His words broke down the minimal wall they were holding against the torrent of emotions that poured out of them. Zale and Zada walked over and pressed against Jack's chest for comfort, sobbing into his shirt and he just kept rubbing his hands over their hair. Janet and Claire were pressed close to Daniel doing much the same so he looked over and found Johnny still sitting on the couch alone, small and miserable. Jack moved Zada and Zale back a little and walked over to couch, "Can I sit down JJ? Can I hold you?" he asked, unsure if his son would want his space to be invaded at the moment even though it took everything for Jack not to pick him up and hug him, try to wipe that miserable devastation off Johnny's features. His little boy nodded and Jack scooted close and wrapped an arm around his shoulder before he gestured to Zale and Zada to crawl up close again. Jack stayed quiet and listened to the tears and sobs coming from all their children while Malachi's silence acted as a strange counterpoint, a whole family devastated and crying out for the youngest Jackson-O'Neill and he had no idea there was something wrong and Jack hoped it could stay that way./span/span /p 


	6. Hope

**Chapter Six: Hope**

When the girls were done breaking down, they were old enough to know what was happening. They understood Malachi was 'sick', they understood he was in trouble even if they didn't really understand the cause but they quieted easier than Zale and Zada and Johnny. When they were done crying and kissing their youngest brother, he pressed a gentle kiss to each of their foreheads before he pointed out some of their workbooks at the table. They easily went and started working on their 'homework' for the evening, and Daniel was pleased for the structure of their lives, to give a little comfort in the familiar. He pressed another kiss to Malachi's head, taking in his baby smell before he passed the baby over to Ben who was disturbingly quiet and sad. Daniel pressed a comforting hand to his father-in-law's shoulder then turned to reach out for Johnny who was still disturbingly quiet and devastated by everything. Johnny looked to Jack for a moment who just smiled and Johnny stood up on the couch and launched easily into Daniel's waiting arms. Daniel held his son close, one arm under his butt as the boy's legs wrapped around his waist and the other along the back of his head. Jack quickly turned all his attention back to the Z-Twins who were still quietly crying. Jack pulled Zada into his lap, even though she was just getting to big to be there, it didn't seem to stop father or daughter. He wrapped the other arm around Zale and just held them.

"I know sweet boy," Daniel whispered into Johnny's hair. "We're going to get through this though okay?" he said the words but didn't expect an answer, they had been having this conversation since he first started having premonitions. "We are going to fight for Malachi, right?"

Johnny gave one resolute nod but it was attached to a tired sigh and Daniel didn't think that was a good sign at all.

"You want to tell us what has you so freaked?" Daniel whispered gently, it was one of the Jackson-O'Neill unwritten rules that they never force Johnny to speak about anything that he's seen and Daniel would bet the recently rebuilt house on the fact that this was about something the little boy had seen. He'd seen so many things, events that came to pass no matter what anyone did but they'd all survived them. They never truly got the whole story of any premonition so there was no telling what Johnny felt after having seen things happen then to experience them again. There was no way to truly know what that kind of wretched déjà vu would be like. Only Johnny knew and sometimes he could tell them about it.

Johnny sighed again and Daniel pressed another kiss to the side of his head, turned and looked at Jack who was still wrapped around their oldest children. There was nothing any of them could do at the moment besides hope Akina and Damnation would be able to get Desire's help to fix this.

It just wasn't enough for Daniel at the moment.

He shook off the thought and kept holding his son who was still gripping him with his legs and arms as tightly as he could. Daniel finally settled on the couch and they passed the time like that. Soon, Zada was tugging her control back down around her like a shield and she walked over to Ben and kissed Malachi, whispering words into his head and if Ben's facial expression was any indication, Zada loved her brother and was going to do whatever she could to see him safe and healthy. Daniel smiled sadly at their little warrior princess knowing that they would be able to stop her from feeling the way she did at the moment but they could keep on loving her and telling her as much. Daniel pulled her close as she passed him so he could kiss her on the forehead then she gave him a wobbly and damp kiss on the cheek before she walked upstairs. He could hear her footsteps receding as she climbed to the third floor and undoubtedly flopped into her bed with annoyance and a certain O'Neill panache that she definitely got from her Papa despite his arguments of the contrary.

Daniel frowned for a second then turned to Jack and Zale, "Z-Man, your sister isn't planning on sneaking out or teleporting is she?" he asked. Jack's attention snapped to Daniel at the question and he looked like he was seconds from leaping up and following his daughter to be sure she wasn't doing what Daniel was only guessing about. Daniel shook his head just enough to let his husband know he was just asking and that storming up there to confront her was not going to help, as stubborn as she was it might just get it into her head to do what they were thinking about at the moment. Thankfully they'd had years to practice reading the silent messages between each other.

Jack stayed there while Zale looked up towards the stairs like he was speaking to his sister and maybe he was before shook his head, "She's just sad Daddy. Zada wants to do something about Malachi but she knows she has nothing that she can do. It makes her even sadder."

Daniel reached over and pressed a hand to the back of Zale's head in a comforting caress then returned to rocking Johnny a little. They were all having a hard day, but Daniel knew that they were all going to collectively get back into the swing of things and they were going to stick together like they always did. For now though, Daniel was going to hold each one of his kids until they could pull themselves out of the fear and sadness. He was going to let them be in a funk for as long as necessary, then he was going to do whatever he needed to do to get all of his family through this.

 _"Daddy?"_ Johnny's sad little voice asked gently in Daniel's mind.

"Yeah baby, I'm right here."

Jack looked over when he spoke, knowing that Daniel was speaking to Johnny, not just speaking. They had all gotten used to 'one-sided' conversations in magicland or at least what usually appeared that way.

 _"I didn't see anything about Malachi,"_ Johnny said and even though it wasn't out loud it was still like a whispered shameful thing.

Daniel tightened his hold a little while Jack waited to see what Daniel would say. Daniel had no idea if Jack had heard the message either but he didn't understand what not seeing anything was a bad thing. "Why does that bother you my sweet boy?"

 _"I don't know what to expect. I can't know to be hopeful or scared or sad. I don't know what I am without them."_

"The visions?" Daniel asked, frowning over at Jack who was still staring like he had no idea what was happening. Daniel would talk to Jack about it later. For now Zale was getting up from the couch and crawling across Daniel so he could hug Johnny from the back and Daniel pressed a hand to the back of his eldest son's head. Then he let the older boy move back to his Papa before he moved off towards the stairs as well. Daniel refocused on Johnny who was sniffling into Daniel's neck with his arms wrapped around Daniel's shoulders. He started talking and didn't really know if Johnny answered his question or not but he figured the visions were what Johnny was referring to. "JJ, I need you to hear me, touch my skin and feel what I feel for you. Please?" he pleaded with his son.

Johnny nodded against his neck, moving one of his hands to the back of Daniel's neck so he started speaking again while Johnny and Jack both stayed silent. He'd also lost track of the fact that Ben and Malachi were still in the other chair and the girls were across the room.

"Those premonitions have done nothing but show you the terror and horror that we could and would go through. I need you to remember all the things that happened after those things came true, are you thinking about them?" Daniel asked gentle in tone but firm in his words. "I know some day when you have had a chance to work on the powers with someone who can help then you are going to do amazing things for our family, we are going to be able to make it through those things no matter what but you have never given up being loving and accepting. You have always been the heart in this family, the strength that never wavers and I need you to think about all the times we have made it through and here we all are together on the other side."

 _"Like Papa's family being so mean? And Papa's brother attacking you?"_ Johnny asked wavering slightly despite the fact that he wasn't using his mouth to think the words.

"Yes just like that, your Papa and I made it through all of that. We made it through you getting hurt, not to mention all the stories of before you were born and before we came here. Knowing and not being able to stop the bad things from happening isn't who we are, who you are. Its what we do after, we stick together and love each other."

Johnny nodded a little, his hand gripping the back of Daniel's neck as tightly as his tiny hand could and Daniel hoped the only thing his son could feel through the contact is love and an understanding that everything he was saying was truth for all of them. _"I don't want to lose Malachi,"_ he finally said. Daniel didn't bother demanding whether Johnny understood what he'd said or not. They would talk more if they needed to but for now, this little boy was so sad that he didn't have anything he could do besides be scared for his little brother.

"We are not going to lose him, we are all going to fight until we can't fight anymore," Daniel figured it was a good thing he was getting so much practice with this speech because he figured this wasn't going to be the last time he made it. Jack was struggling and all the kids too. He was just hoping when he was falling apart, someone would say it back to him when he was ready to give up.

Johnny agreed with a quick jerking nod before he turned and waved his hand over to Jack. Daniel watched as his husband scooted closer so the little boy could grab a hold of them both and hunker down between them and just sat there until it was time to get ready for bed. It was a quiet night, no one willing to make any more noise than the baby who asked to be fed as some point. They rose to eat before all the kids piled upstairs to prepare for bed. When they were all tucked in, Jack claimed Malachi and walked up the stairs and Daniel found himself alone and staring at his father-in-law.

"How did he ever survive this with Charlie?" Daniel whispered hoarsely.

Ben heaved a sigh and pressed his fingers into the corner of his eyes before he scrubbed his hand over his face and through his hair, a gesture so like Jack that Daniel couldn't help but want to reach out and touch the older man. He moved to sit on the table in front of Ben and pressed a hand into the man's wrist, trying to offer a little comfort. He didn't really ever talk to Jack about Charlie, it was one of those subjects that just didn't get discussed ever but Ben would have seen another side of the situation and if he was willing to share, Daniel needed something.

"Jack was there when Charlie shot himself, he road in the ambulance and saw the blood but by the time Charlie was dead and buried my son was gone. He was a shadow of his former self and there was nothing in him that survived the death of his son. Or so I thought. So the answer to your question in all the ways that mattered was that he didn't survive after Charlie."

Daniel nodded, he figured that was the answer but he was hoping for something else. He knew that Jack died a lot that day and he tried to kill off the rest on Abydos. He nodded and started moving away when Ben grabbed him and stopped his retreat. "Or so I thought," the older man reiterated. Daniel frowned and resettled on the table and waited. "I didn't think there was anything that could bring my son back to life again then he came back after the first mission where you met him. I remember it so vividly because Jack came home to visit with his mom and I. He walked in and broke down, we held him through it and I realized something then. I realized there was hope that my son wasn't going to kill himself; I realized there was something out there in the world that convinced my son that he was going to make it even though his son was still in the ground. I didn't know until I met you, I heard some of your story that it hit me. That thing that was going to save my son was you."

Daniel started shaking a little about half way through Ben's little speech, Jack never talked about that time and he didn't know what to think about what Ben was saying. Daniel knew that he'd said whatever the right thing was at the time to get Jack to go home outside of a body bag but this was more than that. What Ben was saying was something Daniel didn't know how to process and he didn't even know what it truly meant. Ben pressed his hands around Daniel's wrist, just maintaining contact.

"I don't know if I can be that anymore. I don't think I could survive this," Daniel whispered, his voice shaking as much as his hands at the words. He knew he was going to have to be strong until the end, he knew that was his job when Jack was falling apart. It's what they've been doing for each other since the beginning but with Malachi. He just didn't know if he could handle being the strong one anymore. He didn't want it all to come crashing down around them but he also didn't have the strength to pretend it couldn't happen.

Ben leaned forward and gripped the back of Daniel's neck and pulled him close for a hug that had Daniel faltering as the older man whispered in his ear, "It's not about being what he needs. You are his other half and that doesn't end just because one of you is feeling weak. He came back to life because he wanted to do that, but it was because of you. Don't second guess what you have together."

Daniel gripped Ben's arm where it was pressed into his chest. He sucked in a deep breath but there was nothing stopping the tears from trickling from the corner of his eye. He was so focused on the feelings, the feel of Ben's fatherly love wrapping around him that he didn't hear Jack until the man was speaking, "Pop, seriously get your own Archeologist!" Jack said and Daniel smiled into Ben's shirt before he hugged his father-in-law tightly before he stood and caught sight of Jack's sad smile.

"Night Ben," Daniel whispered gently before he reached out and grabbed Jack's hand as the older man walked around to stand next to Daniel. He stood and followed as Jack started moving.

"Night Pop," Jack said before they both headed for the stairs. Daniel took a deep breath as they walked into their room and Jack closed the door behind him. Daniel still had his hand in Jack's but he didn't know what to do or say.

"What did my dad say to you?"

Daniel shrugged, "I don't know how we're going to get through this if we lose Malachi. I asked Pop how you survived after Charlie. He said you didn't, then after Abydos you went home to them. Ben says there was something different about you then."

Jack shook their joined hands before he walked them back to the bed and Daniel couldn't help but glance over and check to see Malachi sleeping in his crib. Daniel turned back and found Jack's dark brown eyes searching his face. Jack leaned closer and pressed his hand into Daniel's cheek gently and Daniel couldn't help but lean into the touch. Instead he pressed his whole body into Jack's warmth because he didn't have to keep his distance. Jack heaved a sigh and spoke, "I don't remember much from before Abydos because all the pieces of my heart were shattered and I just didn't know how to function. I went to Abydos and met this amazing human being who showed me that there was more to life than the death and the sadness. He taught me that if I was going to go down with the ship then I better not take the rest of the world with me. That guy reminded me that I was a leader and I wasn't going to leave anyone behind, not ever again."

Daniel nodded, "But it wasn't anything special then. I was just this guy you were working with," he whispered the words and shrugged into Jack's shoulder.

Jack scoffed and tilted Daniel's face so they were looking at each other again and Daniel couldn't help the tiny gasp that slipped from his mouth at the shimmer of tears in Jack's eyes, "You were never not special to me Danny. You were always going to push the envelope and make me want to be better. You were anything but ordinary, always."

Daniel smiled; wavering a little as he leaned in close and pressed his lips to Jack's in a light caress. Jack returned the kiss, pressing deeper and slipping his mouth open slowly. Daniel sank into the kiss and pressed his hand into the side of Jack's neck. He tucked his chin to break the kiss and he looked at Jack, "You were always everything to me too, I sometimes just didn't know it."

Jack smiled and winked so Daniel shifted on the bed and hugged Jack tightly. He pressed a kiss to the side of his husband's face. Jack spoke again before Daniel could even think of what to do or say, though he was actually pretty okay with the silence as well. "Danny, we are going to get through this and I will be damned to hell before I let Malachi go without a fight so whenever you feel like you can't make the speech anymore without crying or dying a little inside, then just let me know and I will give it right back. Okay?"

Daniel smiled and pulled away just long enough to straddle Jack's waist and keep on hugging him. Jack laid back down on the bed, taking Daniel with him and he stayed there on Jack's chest for a few minutes, keeping Jack wrapped up in his arms before he pushed up just enough to lean down and kiss Jack again. He pressed into Jack slightly and slipped his tongue into the seam of Jack's lips and they sank into the caress. Jack's hands clung to Daniel's thighs and his hands stayed next to his husband's head. He didn't think they were going anywhere with this, he was happy enough just kissing Jack. Jack nudged Daniel so he slipped off of Jack and onto the bed, it didn't end the kissing but it did make it more comfortable. After a few more minutes of making out Daniel moved to tuck his head into Jack's shoulder and felt when Jack's fingers started carding through the short hairs at the base of his neck.

"I love you so much Danny," Jack whispered into Daniel's hair.

"I love you too Jack," Daniel returned and rubbed a hand across Jack's chest. He took a deep breath and curled in close to Jack. After a few moments of silence they both got up and got ready for bed, Daniel slid out of the bedroom and headed towards the stairs and peaked into Zale's room, finding his son sleeping. Daniel couldn't help but walk in and press a gentle kiss into his son's forehead. Then he walked back out and repeated it with the rest of the kids, one at a time, taking comfort in knowing they were safe in their beds before he returned to his bedroom. Jack was tucked in bed and Daniel moved over to his bedside table and opened it.

"Danny?" Jack asked when Daniel didn't lay down immediately.

"We have a choice Jack, in case we can't get help from Desire and Lust," Daniel whispered while he reached inside and pulled out a small box and slid it across the bed towards Jack. Jack frowned and moved to lift the lid slowly. Daniel watched as Jack lifted the small vial full of pink vapor, lifted the other one after a moment to find the purple tinted vapor as well. Jack looked up at Daniel.

"What is this?" he asked gently.

It didn't surprise Daniel that Jack didn't know what the vials meant, he never told Jack about taking the twins' powers when they were stripped of them. Jack didn't need to know then but they needed to be aware of all their options now. He hated this one, it wasn't what he wanted for any of his children but it might be all they were capable of when Desire denied them help. If they could be even found.

"These are Desire and Lust's powers, they could be given to our children. Who ever takes Desire's powers, Claire or Janet, they could help Malachi."

Jack's frown deepened, "They wouldn't know how to use them, why do you have these Danny?"

Daniel sighed at Jack's aggravated tone, "I wanted to keep something for them, it would be the only thing they ever had from their mothers. I didn't want to see that gone, not until they were older and make up their own mind."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jack asked as he closed the box again and pushed it back towards Daniel who quickly tucked the box back into his side table before he resettled in bed next to Jack.

"I didn't really know what to say Jack, I should have. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me for too long, I don't think I can deal with that right now."

Jack smiled a little and opened his arms to Daniel who tucked himself close and sucked in a deep breath in an aborted attempt to keep from crying again. Jack shushed him gently, a noise very similar to what he made when Malachi was fussing. Daniel sank into the sound and the comfort, letting the fear and terrifying conclusions of the day slip away in those comforting arms. He knew they would both have to wake up and continue on with life, watch and care for Malachi and the rest of their children but right now in Jack's arms Daniel was grateful for the comfort freely given. He knew it would give him the strength to get up tomorrow and do what needed to be done.

No matter what that meant in the long run.


	7. Weeping Babe

**Chapter Seven: Weeping Babe**

Nothing changed over night, Daniel was waiting for the knowledge of the curse to somehow make itself known immediately but that's not how it worked despite the immediacy of magic sometimes. They continued with their lives, taking measurements of Malachi every day, right before his afternoon nap and they kept it in a journal next to his crib. Daniel didn't really know enough mathematics to state what his rate of growth was but once they started noticing it, there were changes every day. Malachi was growing quickly and Jack's milk production could barely keep up with his hourly feedings. Daniel had started cooking fruits and vegetables so he could mash them to support the milk. Malachi thankfully accepted this as well and mostly he was such a happy baby but that had to change at some time.

Zale and Zada constantly checked in with Malachi for his emotional health, Daniel and Jack making notes in the notebook whenever Malachi's moods shifted. The whole family stayed close to the youngest Jackson-O'Neill, to make sure he always had what he needed which in Daniel's opinion may have been causing a few problems all on its own but it wasn't something that he had to deal with immediately because after Malachi had been with them for two and a half months, they realized that when Daniel had wondered about his mental acuity being able to stay caught up with his growth process, he'd been right to be concerned. Physically, Malachi was getting bigger but he couldn't roll from his back to his stomach or vice versa. He couldn't seem to grasp anything in his fingers unless they led him to it and he had started crying a lot.

As he was at the moment, with Jack walking and rocking him but it seemed there was nothing they could do to soothe him. Walking with him didn't work though it seemed to make the screeching more like whimpering and whining but if anyone dared to pass him around or put him down for when he needed to eat or be changed, it was like someone was raking him over the coals. Daniel had never in his life heard such a sound of pain and agony and that's what it was. Daniel knew Malachi's hungry or his angry cry from the pain cry and they were getting far to much experience with the later.

"Do you want me to take him Jack?" Daniel asked loudly, to carry over the sound of Malachi's whining sputters. Jack had been walking with the baby for more than a few hours at this point, had already fed the child and hadn't eaten more than a little bit of fruit and meat in that time. Daniel could see the exhaustion tearing him apart from the inside out, his shoulders drooping forward in the strain to hold Malachi. His eyes were smudged from sleepless nights and Daniel knew that most of the kids were next door to get away from the crying.

This was the longest stretch of crying they'd seen yet but they were keeping track and it was all getting worse. Zale and Zada, when Malachi would let either of them touch him, had said that he was in constant pain and they'd heard nothing from Akina or Damnation. Erica and Elle came over every other day but all they could offer was to give Malachi's massages to help with the aches of growing too fast and try to help him to keep learning but it seemed in the past couple of days there beautiful and happy son had just become miserable and it was making everyone else miserable and all of that was taking a toll on Jack and Daniel both.

"He probably won't let you," Jack finally responded though Daniel could barely hear him over Malachi's screams. Daniel sighed, nodding because Jack was probably right but he walked over and gently removed his son from Jack's arms and pointed up the stairs towards their bedroom. Jack nodded, his whole body slumped as he pressed a hand to the side of Daniel's neck before he turned and walked up the stairs on the tail end of Malachi's cries slipping into high gear and he took in a deep breath to scream but it only came out as a breathy whimper. The poor kid has been screaming himself hoarse for over a day now and he had nothing left over.

"I know baby boy, we'll get you through this even if I have to kick Aunt Akina's butt to do it," he spoke calmly and moved over to the basement door, knowing that Ben was next door with the rest of the kids and his new bromance buddy, Jacob. It would muffle Malachi's screams and he would be able to do some exercises with him since he was going to be upset anyway, he might as well assess what his boy could do.

Since Ben took care of Malachi sometimes, there were diapers and cleaning supplies in his 'apartment' so when Daniel reached the bottom of the stairs, one arm tucked under Malachi's butt and the other across his back he headed across the room to the bathroom that they'd had installed down here and quickly settled the boy into the 'changing table'. Malachi looked up at him forlornly, his multi colored eyes tracking Daniel while the noise of the hoarse screaming shut off abruptly. Daniel frowned as he looked down and wondered why his son stopped crying. He kept an eye on him as Daniel started taking off his pants and the dirty diaper, cleaned his skin and waited for another eruption of tears all the while, Malachi stayed silent with some unknown look on his face. Daniel couldn't read what was happening so he redressed him and lifted him again and waited for the cries to start.

Instead Malachi grunted quietly and Daniel held him and almost couldn't contain the cry that slipped from his lips. He gently pressed his son back down on the nearest soft surface, staring at the brilliant red of the blood slipping out of the baby's nose. He grabbed a clean washcloth and dabbed gently at his skin then screamed out in his head for his son.

 _'Daddy, what is it?'_ Zale demanded, his mental 'voice' full of fear.

"I need Erica now! I am down in Grandpapa's apartment and Malachi has a nose bleed."

 _'A nosebleed?'_ Zale questioned and Daniel groaned but then his son responded again waylaying any need to chastise Zale for his curiosity, _'She will be there in a moment.'_

"Thank you buddy," Daniel whispered, knowing his son was getting the message and turned as Erica cleared her throat and moved up next to Daniel, again if he wasn't in the midst of panicking he would be impressed that people magically appearing out of thin air was just no longer a surprise or something to be upset about. She immediately moved to place her hand on Malachi's stomach and closed her eyes. Elle appeared on Daniel's other side and touched a hand over her mother's hand.

"We are here Daniel, we will not let this be the end," Elle whispered. He didn't know why the mother and daughter were both there but he didn't really care especially when Elle started explaining what was happening. Erica couldn't heal and talk at the same time, healing the right thing apparently was just as much work as modern medicine made it, there were just a lot of other advantages such as a speedy recovery and not a lot of scarring. "Malachi's brain is pushing into his skull, mother is relieving the pressure which has caused the blood."

"Why did he stop crying all of a sudden?" Daniel asked, curiosity a useful tool not to have a mental breakdown which his brain was really hoping for. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and his breathing was getting erratic so he took a couple deep breaths to try to bring it back down again, Malachi wasn't going to be helped by him panicking.

"I believe it was because the pressure just knocked out the other pain, many injuries within the mind can carry little pain, it is why there are still people dying from certain human concerns such as blood clots in the brain and so on, it can be painless. I cannot know for certain but you did the right thing getting us here as quickly as you saw it, mother is doing what she must."

Daniel nodded and watched as Malachi watched them, that still confused look on his face. He turned and looked towards the stairs and looked back to Elle who was watching him closely before she nodded and blipped out. Less than a minute of silence in the room and she was back with Jack in tow who looked like he'd been scared awake. He was panting and struggling against a blanket that was still wrapped around him. Apparently Elle took him before he could even get out of bed, Daniel wanted to roll his eyes at that but just reached out and Jack was holding him close, barely awake enough to know what was happening other than Daniel needing him.

"Is he okay?" Jack whispered, his breath finally resettling.

Daniel turned around as Erica spoke, "He is well, there was swelling in his brain but I have alleviated the pressure and he should be fine for now."

"Where the hell is Damnation with the twins?" Daniel hissed as he pulled away from Jack and leaned down to wrap his hands around Malachi's tired and limp body. The swelling and the needed healing wiped out whatever energy he had left and he was unconscious. "Is he really okay?"

Erica nodded again, "I will ask Akina what is happening with Desire and Lust's retrieval, I cannot seek out Damnation with my thoughts, he hides himself to well for that. I will leave Elle here for a time in case there is another episode. He will sleep for a time; maybe you should do the same. You both look like death."

Jack snorted, "You try having a child with a curse like this."

Erica nodded solemnly and Daniel was left wondering if she'd experienced something like this before and that's how she knew what to look for. They didn't ever really know what all the Vannas people had gone through before and after their arrival, they were only privy to what they were willing to share.

"Thank you for helping him," Daniel finally whispered and Erica teleported out, leaving Daniel and Jack to walk back up to the living room with Malachi in Daniel's arms and Elle following close behind.

"You want to stay down here and relax?" Daniel asked Elle.

She nodded, "Just call if you need me."

Daniel nodded and they walked back upstairs to their bedroom where he tucked Malachi into his crib and started rubbing his belly and his arms and hands, pressing his fingers into the tiny fists that were loosely gripped. Jack spread one of his hands across Malachi's belly, dwarfing the child. Daniel leaned against Jack's side and then after a few moments of desperate contact, Jack pulled him away and towards the bed. They flopped down onto the blankets, curled around each other and fell asleep immediately.

Zale listened desperately for any other messages from his father but heard none. He held one of Zada's hand, his shaking slightly in her grasp as he waited for any news for his little brother until there was a change in the air and Erica was standing in front of him. Zale leapt up from his spot on the bed. When he heard the panicked sound of his Daddy's voice, Zale had immediately walked into Jake's bedroom while his sister followed him in curiosity. The twins and Johnny were still out side playing in the backyard with Grandpapa and Aunt Sam's father. He figured someone would be coming to see what happened to them soon but after the terror he'd felt from his father, he needed an answer before he'd be able to handle any sort of interaction again.

"Is he?" Zale swallowed heavily, not even knowing what he was going to ask.

"He is doing well, sleeping off the pain and I sent your fathers to their bed as well. You are getting stronger Zale, you called out to not only myself and Elle but all of the Healers on the island, I have been getting messages from them for the last couple moments. I need you to know this only because it is a powerful ability that not many people have, to reach specific minds en masse. Please remember to focus on only me next time," she spoke and he knew there was no recrimination in her tone; she was letting him know what he needed to train with this ability. He understood that having Xylander meant that he was constantly having abilities pop up when he needed them.

Zale nodded, "I didn't mean to, I have never felt anything like that from Daddy. Having the parental bond in my heart for him means that he can communicate with me easily despite not being magical but when he screamed I thought he was dying, that Malachi was dying and we were going to lose Papa and Daddy because of it."

Erica reached out and took Zale in her arms for a tight hug. Zale tucked his head into her chest, realizing not for the first time that it would not take long for him to stand as tall as the Vannas healer. He did not want to see that time without his fathers and littlest brother. Erica hugged him tightly then pulled away.

"I must go but Elle is standing guard with your parents at the moment so stay here and get a little more time for you and your siblings before you rejoin your fathers."

Zale nodded and made sure he wasn't touching anyone because he didn't want anyone to chance upon his thoughts. He knew what it was like to live among people who were constantly in each other's minds and sometimes he loved his fathers even more because they had no supernatural ability and they could read Zale's moods sometimes without fail. It was like when they learned that Malachi was sick and Daddy asked if Zada was going to climb out her window and go after Desire. She hadn't decided to do that, but it was a close second for the both of them at the time, they both decided not to follow through because they would just get caught and be punished for it. Not to mention, there was no way for either of them to actually find Desire and Lust without others to help them. Zada might still have a bond with Desire but it wasn't enough to find her, especially since the bio-moms had no powers now.

Papa and Daddy had never needed magic to know their children, they did because both parents had spent every minute and day and year getting to know their children. He loved them so much for that.

"Nothing has changed Z, you know that," Zada whispered to the room, not turning towards Zale.

"Of course things have changed, Malachi's brain is swelling faster than his skull can stand. Do you imagine this is as bad as it can get?" Zale demanded as he started pacing the small room that seemed so much smaller since his legs had received a good growth spurt not that long ago. Realizing he wanted more space, feeling claustrophobic in the space, he walked over to the door and jerked it open. Zada sighed and followed behind him through the house and towards the back yard. Zale paused at the door and looked out into the grassy space while the other kids played and wondered when he stopped thinking of himself as one of them. Probably when he killed that man to save Johnny and Daddy. Zale could never go back to being so carefree, he loved spending time with his sisters and brothers but it wasn't as their brother anymore. He was a protector, he was a warrior with a first kill in his past, but he hoped Janet and Claire would at least enjoy a long and happy childhood before they felt the weight of this on their shoulders.

"Zale, you cannot find the sisters any faster than the queen and Sir Vane, you know that," Zada reiterated next to him. Zale nodded, knowing she was right but not really believing her for sure. Daddy and Papa couldn't do anything but be there with Malachi but that wasn't true for him, he could do more. He could find out from Xylander if there was anyway for him to find Desire even though she wasn't his bio-mom. He could use his strengthening telepathy to demand her return. There had to be something he could do because sitting back and watching his youngest brother and both his parents die a little more every day was not acceptable and he intended to find out what that was.

He could hear Zada's sigh of acceptance and annoyance as they walked out into the yard, she knew what he intended to do but that was going to happen no matter how sly he could be with everyone else, Zada had been his best friend and in his head since their births. She would either work with him or she would stay out of his way until she told their parents, undoubtedly right after they couldn't stop him if Zale found a way to help. It was how they had always done things and he saw no reason for that to change now.


	8. Eerie Silence

p class="MsoNormal"a name="OLE_LINK12"/aa name="OLE_LINK11"/aspan style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Chapter Eight: Eerie Silence /strong/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Ben walked into the house, all his grandchildren preceding him like ducklings. It was interesting how easy it was for him to spend most of the day surrounded by children under the age of thirteen. He remembered not really enjoying it the first time around with his sons but then they seemed to be constantly at each other's throats from the time they were twelve and up. He led all the kids towards the kitchen and pulled out some snacks for them before they moved onto some of their homework as Daniel called it even though they still didn't technically have school to attend. It was one of the things that he admired about Daniel, that he had never allowed the world their children were born into effect what he wanted them to know. Daniel constantly taught them languages and cultures, letting them know that this way of life was not the only one and that was incredibly important to the archeologist turned teacher./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""It's really quiet Grandpapa," Janet said as he put the finishing touches on some sandwiches made from some meat that Daniel had sliced and put in the cooling unit for easy eating. He stopped and realized that for the first time in a day and a half Malachi wasn't crying. He frowned and looked around, catching sight of Elle, the healer's daughter, as she walked out of Daniel's office with a smile on her face for her friends. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Elle, how is Malachi doing? It can't be good if you are here," Ben wondered./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Zale twitched and Ben turned to look at the eldest boy, he knew something about what was happening here and he hadn't said a word. Ben glared at the top of the kid's head and decided they were all going to sit down and have a talk about full disclosure when he was their caretaker. He was learning that was one of the hardest things about this place, there was always something going on that he would never understand and sometimes instead of just talking to him about it, all the children hid those things. He knew that was a struggle that Jack and Daniel had sometimes with Zada and Zale, he'd heard stories about them when they were nine and causing all sorts of trouble./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Elle answered smiling at his glaring face, "Malachi is resting but there was an incident and my mother asked me to remain here with him for a little while. He was so drained from the incident and the healing that the baby is sleeping. Jack and Daniel are sleeping as well, I just came down from checking them a few minutes ago."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Ben nodded and offered her some food as well; she smiled and took it gratefully before she settled at the table for the others. He looked towards the stairs, really fighting the need to walk upstairs and seek out answers for himself but he figured after the sleepless night they all had the two men deserved to get some rest. So instead he went back to watching the children, which was one of his favorite pastimes here, besides shooting the breeze with Jacob whenever they were both free. He watched for a while and realized Jack and Daniel had a point when they said more than once that Janet and Claire were happily innocent, Johnny was consistently optimistic but Zale and Zada were just so quiet and almost sullen. Then again, Zale and Zada both had gone through things no ten year old should ever have to deal with. He would be sure to talk to Jack and Daniel about it when they woke up; it was all they could do. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"For now though they needed the rest./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack's eyes fluttered open slowly and he found himself staring at the ceiling in his bedroom and wondered for a second how he got there. The last thing he remembered was blood on Malachi's face and how still he was after Erica healed him. He shifted his gaze over to the crib, climbing tiredly to his feet. His limbs were barely mobile, filled with lead as he shuffled across the room. He leaned down over the bed and pressed a hand down onto Malachi's stomach, frowning when the baby didn't immediately shift around his hand. Malachi was very attuned to people touching him, normally curling around the hand in some way, showing his physical abilities early on in that respect, it had always been like the baby was hugging whomever was touching. He pressed his palm next into the top of Malachi's head andspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanthe baby didn't shift at all, so Jack took in a deep breath and forced the rising panic down for a moment while he rested his finger just below Malachi's nose and he could feel the air flowing out of the little nostrils. He heaved a sigh of relief and turned back to the bed, it was possible that he was so exhausted from earlier that he couldn't wake up like he normally did but even that was worrying./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack stumbled back to the bed again and leaned over to press his hand into Daniel's hair, waking his slumbering husband one pass at a time. He frowned when Daniel didn't seem able to wake up either though he was fidgeting in his sleep; it wasn't the same thing so Jack sat down on the bed because he couldn't hold himself up anymore. "Danny, come on love, I need your help."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"The sound of Jack's voice seemed to be all it took to finally wake him. Daniel's eyes popped open and he jolted up into a rigid sitting position with his breath heaving. He looked over to the crib then found Jack sitting next to him, shaking a little with the effort it took to remain sitting up. Daniel reached out and pulled Jack close for a desperate hug and Jack couldn't help but return the embrace, hearing the sniffles as Daniel tried to calm down from whatever he was feeling and thinking in that moment. Jack pressed a hand to the back of Daniel's neck, trying to comfort his lover when he so desperately needed comfort as well. After a few minutes of Daniel calming himself down before Daniel switched from being comforted to comforting Jack and he sighed contentedly./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"When Jack felt his shoulders sag in a release of tension he pulled back and looked into Daniel's bright shimmering blue eyes, the tears were not falling just captured on the edge of his lid. Jack gestured towards the crib and with a deepening frown, Daniel walked over to the crib and leaned down to touch Malachi. That second of concern morphing into panic on Daniel was eerily similar to Jack's reaction when Malachi didn't respond to his other father's touch, "He's not waking."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack shook his head, making his head swim at the motion and pressed the heel of his hand to his temple hard, trying to get his head to work with him instead of against him. "I don't think I can make it down the stairs Daniel, I'm so exhausted. We need Elle."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Daniel nodded before he returned to Jack's side of the bed and tucked him back onto the bed before walking out of the room. Jack wanted to hold Malachi but figured it was probably best that the baby stay in the crib where Elle and Erica could look him over with Jack's exhaustion playing havoc with their scans. He didn't completely understand the way the Healers functioned in their abilities but he did know from years of working with them that when Jack or Daniel were touching the child being cared for, sometimes the contact was enough the muck up the readings especially if the parent was feeling sick or sad or panicky./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Right now Jack was all three./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"A few minutes passed and Daniel reentered the bedroom with Elle right behind him, Jack realized all of a sudden that she wasn't really a little girl anymore. He didn't ever really notice as she grew, her body was that of a young adult and she was wise and powerful enough that in a few more years she would be a healer to rival her mother and she was tall, coming up to Daniel's shoulder. He watched as she walked across the room and placed a gentle hand on Malachi's stomach, again not eliciting a response from the baby./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Papa?" someone asked from the door and he turned back to see the rest of his family at the door, waiting for permission to enter the room. Jack waved them over to the bed, Daniel standing at the foot of the bed sharing a tired smile with their children and Ben as they walked into the room. The tumble of bodies converged on the bed and gently surrounded Jack so he scooted over to the center of the bed since Daniel seemed okay with standing while they waited. Ben moved to stand next to his son-in-law, wrapping a comforting hand around Daniel's shoulder as they waited in silence as Elle checked their son over again for the second time that day./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Well at the moment there should be no extra cause for concern, he is in a deep sleep but I sense that his body is using the rest to heal more from the trauma from earlier. I cannot tell you anymore than that, I shall remain and if he needs to be awakened then I will do so. I can easily slip into his mind and bring him out of it but I believe this is his body's way of remaining with you despite what appearance seem to be."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack nodded, not knowing what else to say./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Daniel, thankfully, didn't have that concern, "What about food, he's been eating so much? He could be hungry and he won't get nutrients while he's sleeping?"/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""He should be all right for a couple more hours, this might be another growth spurt which can be helpful with what happened earlier, I know this is hard for all of you but he is alive and his body is healing from the previous incident. I shall be downstairs if you need anything from me."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack nodded and Daniel pressed a hand on Elle's shoulder in quiet thanks, she nodded and her hand gripped his gently in return for a moment before she left the room and no one spoke. After over twelve years with children and Daniel, silence in their house felt wrong, it was something to be concerned about or it was brought on by something so scary that it knocked them all sideways./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""I am going to leave you guys with the kids for a little while then we are all going to get ready for bed, okay guys?" Ben said with a soft clap as he turned and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door. Jack felt the prick of tears at the gratitude he felt for his father's presence. He honestly didn't know what they would be doing right now without him, as well as Teal'c and Sam and Adrian's family. He didn't think they could have made it through half the stuff that had happened in the last month. And this was only the beginning./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Grandpapa is so awesome," Zada whispered, nodding as though she was agreeing with him and Jack smiled. She was tucked at his head, leaning against the headboard and running her delicate fingers through his hair so she knew what he was thinking./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Daniel nodded, "Yeah baby, he sure is. We should try and do something nice for him. You guys should think about that okay?" Daniel suggested and there was a round of nods. Jack waved his hand at Daniel who smiled and walked around to the other side of the bed and tucked into the open space on the big bed, when the house was rebuilt after the fire, Akina had a 'king' size bed, something that not many people had but the queen had understood that they constantly had children sleeping with them so everyone at the moment could fit with little difficulty though as soon as Zada and Zale hit their next growth spurt they were going to have to start taking turns though the Z-twins hardly ever climbed into bed with them anymore. They were getting to old, to fast. He didn't want them to be that much closer to being adults and not here with them. Zada and Zale had been such wonderful older siblings but they were also Jack and Daniel's first foray into parenthood together and he didn't like the idea of the eight of them not being together someday./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Stop thinking about it Jack," Daniel said with a sigh and he glared over at his husband, though the other man had never needed telepathy to figure out the information trudging through Jack's mind on many of their days together. So he just held out his hand and Daniel laced their fingers together, they curled up and stayed silent and still as they listened to Malachi's quiet breathing in the room./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"There was nothing more to say at the moment, they all knew they were still fight but Jack had nothing else to say and thankfully the kids seemed to understand that their fathers were just as lost right now, willing to stay close and show there support however they could. At the moment, that meant listening to the stillness of sorrow and fear, living in the knowledge that they didn't know anything. Johnny hadn't seen anything, otherwise he would have told them about it, and the little boy had a point about not knowing what to think and feel when they'd been getting bad news prior for years now, sometimes just the knowledge of something coming but it was enough to help them keep an eye out for it but this radio silence from beyond was almost as scary as the silence coming from the crib across the room./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""I remember thinking once upon a time," he whispered into the air, catching everyone's attention, "I wanted peace and quiet so much before and now I hate it."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""I know love, we have been incredibly spoiled by our children in that respect," Daniel returned gently and a few of the children giggled in response, Zada and Claire, Jack figured. Jack smiled at the happy sound before they all fell silent once again, not knowing what else to say until his father can to the door and told the kids that it was time for kisses and hugs before bedtime. Daniel walked out with them, probably to help with getting them ready since getting five children into their beds at night was a two person job even with such well-behaved kids, they still get easily distracted and excited at all the wrong times. Jack knew because they'd been doing it for about nine years now. Zale and Zada before the twins and Johnny came along had been so easy most of the time, Daniel and Jack trading off to focus their attention on each child. After the other three were born, they had to tag team in the bathroom for brushing their teeth and bathing if it was bath night. There were stories to be told and hugs and kisses, something that Jack would love to be a part of at the moment but he didn't want to leave Malachi alone and he still didn't have any energy so he stayed where he was, accepting kisses and hugs from each child who wandered back in for them. He stayed there and listened as they headed to their bedrooms and he could hear the muffled low pitched voice of his father and Daniel telling stories for a while until everything resettled for the evening and Daniel rejoined him in the bedroom./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Are they okay? Should I go say goodnight?" Jack asked wearily, rubbing his eyes as Daniel climbed into bed. Due to Malachi's constant crying, they had never even made it out of pajama type clothes so neither of them needed to change. Daniel pulled back the covers and helped Jack scoot from one side to the other enough to get himself under the sheet as well./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""They are just fine Jack, you are going to stay in bed and rest for as long as you can. We are going to make Elle wake Malachi in about three hours but for now, sleep."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""Why are we going to wake him?" Jack mumbled as he tried to force his eyes to stay open so he could continue the conversation out of sheer will power./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;""He needs to eat and you haven't gone this long without expressing the milk and it's going to get uncomfortable."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack frowned though his eyes remained closed, "How do you even know that?"/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Daniel shuffled a little closer under the blankets, tucking his arm around Jack's waist and pressing a kiss to the side of his face, "Because I have been listening to women tell these stories for years, I read a lot and I watch you. You start to leak and it starts getting uncomfortable and you suddenly will get up and leave the room, its usually around a long chunk of time between feedings. I'm surprised you aren't already uncomfortable actually."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK11;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK12;"Jack shrugged, forcing the shudder away even though he still hated talking about this. He nodded instead, letting Daniel know he understood and refused to tell him the pressure was already a little uncomfortable but he had no intention of waking the exhausted infant. If he needed to he would use the awful pump to relieve the pressure if it got to be unbearable. So for now, he wrapped an arm around Daniel's shoulder and tucked him closer to his side before drifting off to sleep again./span/span /p 


	9. Unhappy News

**Chapter Nine: Unhappy News**

 **Author's Note: I am going to try and get all my chapters uploaded, I apologize for not keeping up on this site, AO3 is where my stories live as well. Thanks for sticking with me.**

After the swollen brain and unconsciousness, things seemed to settle into an unhealthy rhythm for Jack and Daniel with their children. Everything revolved around keeping Malachi alive but there wasn't much they could do besides hope to stay in front of the next symptom. Elle and Erica were constantly at the house but there was nothing any of them could really do. It hadn't ended with the unnatural sleep, that was just the beginning, now there was the massive growth spurt that had caused more pain and tears, sleepless nights and screams that made Daniel think their poor son was dying. That hadn't touched on the awful agony of his teeth coming in more than a few at a time but the little boy didn't have the mental ability utilize his new larger body. He was still so helpless and Daniel worried that their growing son's mind and abilities would never catch up with the age of his body.

Barely three days passed in real time like this, seemingly like forever when something crashed into the living room and Daniel turned from the kitchen to look around the corner in confusion. He found Akina throwing a bound Lust to the couch with William and Damnation close as well. He washed his hands and walked into the living room, glad that Jack was upstairs with Malachi, attempting to get some sleep at the moment. They didn't need to be here for whatever this was. Malachi's pain and sickness was sapping most of Jack's strength so whenever they were lucky enough for Malachi to find rest, Daniel sent Jack to as well.

"Guys, take it easy. Jack really needs the sleep and so does Malachi."

"Daniel, where are the rest of the children?" Akina asked instead of saying anything in response to his statement. Daniel figured he would let is slide since she was using a calm and soft tone of voice that wouldn't carry upstairs.

"They are over at Adrian's with Ben, what's going on here? Where is Desire?"

Lust glared at all of them collectively, Akina waited and Damnation stood just behind his royal sister's back as her protection and backup. Daniel walked over and looked over his sons' bio-mother, she looked drawn and tired and she had a slight bruise on her chin but he didn't know what it was about and honestly he had so little give-a-damn about her face when his son was dying upstairs, with the newest problem of his heart rate spiking constantly, making both fathers worry about an impending heart attack which had started a few hours before. It was just the newest and most terrifying thing to occur in the past week.

"Lust was just about to tell us where her sister is, we decided we should come here and let you know what is happening."

Daniel nodded and looked at the woman sitting on his couch, crossing his arms he waited for her answer. When Lust said nothing Damnation stepped forward and struck her hard across the face, her head snapping back with the loud thwack reverberating in the room. Daniel flinched even though he didn't really care any sort of sympathy for her, getting backhanded across the face was not an enjoyable feeling. Not to mention the swell of pain that last much longer than the smack. He didn't move to defend her like he once did when he first met Love and the twins.

"Where is your sister Desire? Why wasn't she with you?" Daniel asked.

Lust looked up at him and Daniel could see something other than anger behind that gaze. He moved to settle on a chair across from her, remembering all the times Lust had spent time with Daniel when she was pregnant with Zale and Jack had disappeared. She'd spent all that time comforting and making Daniel laugh just because she could and wanted to. He remembered suddenly in a great flash that she was someone they had trusted to bear their children for them and she was hurting.

He needed to know why.

She must have seen something in his gaze because she started speaking, shifting and moving her bound hands to alleviate some of the pressure in the bindings as she spoke, "We were taken again by one of Zarcorp's towns once more. They didn't believe we were without power because they knew of us from our previous time within their facilities when their treatment damaged us without any hope of healing. They began to torture us, to attempt us to react so they could learn more about our abilities. I watched them do all things you once promised to do to me, over and over again." Lust's stopped as she gasped and pressed her bound hands to her face, catching the tears with the knuckles of her hand from their awkward position. Daniel leaned in and gripped her hands gently in comfort, he would never feel badly for saying and doing what he must to protect his husband and children but he understood the pain of loss. Damnation was shuffling closer to Daniel's side, ready to act if Lust made a move towards Daniel but he figured she wouldn't. He knew where this was going and Lust had been broken by it.

"Please tell us?" he asked gently.

"She succumbed to her injuries and the sick creatures brought her dead body into the room and placed her there where I could watch and smell as it began to waste away. If it was not for Damnation dragging me out, and I will not speak of gratitude for that as I only wish to join her on the other side, I would be dead now. I have done nothing but love her and harm others for the sake of my desires in this world, which makes me not worth saving. I cannot help you; I cannot give you what you need to save your son. So please do the kind thing and kill me now?"

Daniel frowned, she felt there was nothing for her anymore. He pulled his hand back from hers and glared at the broken woman. He thought about all those years ago when he convinced a grief stricken Colonel Jack O'Neill to keep living and he didn't know if he could or wanted to do the same thing now but as he sat and stared at her, anger bubbled to the surface and he jumped away from her so he wouldn't lash out at her physically, verbally though he didn't seem capable of stopping. The words were quickly tripping off his tongue before he ever knew he was going to speak, "You have nothing? Nothing! You have to two children that are biologically half yours; you have three children that are technically family through your sister. You selfish bitch! They are your family; we were your family before you decided stealing them from us was a better option than being a part of our family. You do not have nothing in this life, you could have had this family to call on but you chose your own selfish desires instead of family. You burned our home to the ground, you tried to mentally rape Zale, the child you carried in your belly! You chose to have nothing, you did! Don't you dare ask for sympathy or even pity in my house and now because of your selfish destructive sister, my baby boy," Daniel's voice broke on a sob and Akina pressed a gentle hand to his shoulder but he shook it off. She couldn't comfort him, she couldn't save his son and now Desire couldn't either. He took a deep breath and continued, "My beautiful unique son is dying. He is aging so quickly his body is giving up. So die if you want to but don't you dare put it on us to do the deed. Have the fucking conviction to do it yourself and don't you dare do it somewhere where the children would be hurt by it."

With that Daniel turned away from the silent and shocked woman sitting on their couch in the home that was built after she burned the previous one and caught sight of Jack at the top of the stairs, he was sitting on the top step with Malachi on his lap. He was now the size of the other kids when they were getting close to their first birthday. His head was pressed miserably into Jack's shoulder and his arm loosely gripping Jack's neck. They both looked so tired and Daniel dropped his eyes at the guilt that ripped through him because they could have been woken by his tirade. He looked back to Akina and she nodded at the look on his face, he spoke anyway.

"Do whatever you want with her, just get her out of my house."

"Daniel!" Lust exclaimed as she rose but Damnation didn't let her get a foot before he was grabbing her shoulder and holding her with a punishing grip, turning her skin light around the indent of his fingers and palm. Daniel waited for a moment.

"You would never forgive what I have done so hoping for something now would be useless," she spoke towards the ground, all misery and he figured a whole lot of showmanship.

Daniel scoffed in disgust as he turned but he did speak, "How would you know Rea, you haven't asked. And you definitely haven't tried."

He turned just enough when he spoke her given name, their daughter was name Zada Rea because it was Desire and Lust's born names and he'd never used it before. She was staring at him in shock, her eyes filling with tears as Damnation turned her towards the door and proceeded out, leaving Akina staring at Daniel where he stood at the base of the steps with Jack at the top with Malachi. All Daniel wanted to do was climb the steps between them and hug his husband and child.

"You know what your choice is now Daniel, please think it over and let me know. I know why you do not wish to do it but now we stand without another option."

Daniel nodded, thinking of the little vials in his bedside table, thinking about what it would mean to ask his ten year old daughters to do this but he also knew there was no way around it anymore. He would contact Adrian in a few minutes and have him bring the children home. The kids deserved to know what was happening, the watered down version anyway. Zale and Zada would undoubtedly get the whole story because they were too smart and powerful for Daniel and Jack to keep anything from them but the girls had always been amazingly untouched by all the drama. It was one of the reasons they were Daniel's heroes sometimes, so blissfully happy and untouched, it didn't mean that the Z-Twins and Johnny weren't also his heroes because of their inner strength was unshakeable in some ways. He couldn't help it really, all of his children were phenomenal little people and the fact that half of their DNA came from the twins really did throw the nature over nurture argument under the bus. The Jackson-O'Neill children would never consider doing anything to hurt someone out of spite and not getting their way, they would never give up because of the awful things in life that could happen, that had happened in the course of their life.

He was brought back to the present when the door closed behind Akina and he turned and trudged up the stairs and pressed his head into Jack's lap, not making Malachi move and Jack shifted so he could run gentle fingers through the hair at Daniel's temple as he wrapped his arms around Jack's legs.

"We have to offer Desire's powers to Janet and Claire, don't we?" Jack whispered, his voice was strained at the prospect of making their daughters accept the powers that were used to try and destroy their Papa and youngest brother.

Daniel nodded into Jack's leg, "If we have any chance of saving Malachi before he dies from the trauma of his fast growing body, yes that's our choice."

"But we knew that was going to be a choice from a while ago, it just wasn't the one we wanted to make. I can't even pretend to imagine what this will do to our girls but what if we don't do it? The only other alternative is to sacrifice Malachi for them."

Daniel couldn't say anything to that; they both knew where they stood. This decision technically belonged to them as the parents but honestly there was no way they could demand the twins do this without telling them the truth. "I don't know what to think or feel, Jack. Help me please?" Daniel finally whispered, the tears threatening to fall from his lashes, trapped there by sheer force of will. He refused to close his eyes on the moment laid before them, the devastating choice laid at their feet, he wouldn't just blindly walk into the option. Nothing stopped the feeling that he was failing his daughters and his son in some way, why hadn't they demanded Malachi be checked out before Desire was disempowered? Why hadn't they kept up with Erica after the c-section? He didn't understand where his blatant ignorance of the possible situation had come from after all the years they'd lived in Magicland, and all the things Desire had done to them. He had just decided to believe it was over; which made Daniel wonder how much of his naiveté had truly survived the circumstances of what had happened to their family in the last couple of years.

Jack prodded him gently in his side and Daniel grunted as he pulled away and looked into his husband's chocolate brown gaze, the love and understanding there, backed by some sort of frustration. Daniel frowned, "What?"

"We didn't fail any of them, you didn't fail them. Knock it off Danny!"

Daniel gaped at him for a second then realized again that he should really stop being surprised by Jack's ability to know what he was thinking and feeling after fifteen plus years in their relationship. It was still annoying though. "I hate that so much Jack."

"Too bad, I said knock it off and I meant it."

Daniel shrugged then shook off the thoughts since they would just continue to annoy Jack. He reached out and pressed a hand to Malachi's back, he was constantly growing and now was no different, the three times growth rate was probably no longer accurate, it was speeding up the longer the curse stayed on their little boy. The child whimpered a little at Daniel's touch and he pulled away, saddened that he couldn't even touch his son without hurting him.

"Its nothing Daniel, he's just tired. He didn't wake up crying, he ate something and we heard the shouting. I forget you can curse like a sailor when you're angry."

"I try not to seen as how we have a bunch of children and they don't really need to know archaic curse words to say to unsuspecting Vannas."

Jack snorted at that then nudged Daniel up and they all moved up to the bedroom. Daniel would go get the kids in a few minutes but as with every one of these awful realizations, they came with the desire to curl up with Malachi and Jack for a little while before he had to face life again. So Jack settled Malachi on the mattress, rubbing the baby's back when he cried a little then Daniel climbed up next to him while Jack climbed up on the other side. Daniel pressed down to where he was eye to eye with Malachi since he was looking towards his Daddy. Jack removed his hand when Malachi was calm and Daniel could feel his eyes on him. He ignored Jack in exchange for keeping an eye on Malachi as he pressed the tip of his finger across the little boy's forehead, then sliding it down the side of his cheek gently. Malachi watched him unerringly, tracking a tear as it fell down the side of Daniel's face, across his nose and dripped down on the comforter between them. Malachi stayed quiet and still, exhaustion clearly rippling along the edges of his consciousness until Daniel's gentle touch lulled him back to sleep and Jack lifted the slack child and replaced him in the crib.

Daniel kept his eyes on his son, saddened that he could no longer see the simple rise and fall of his chest, physical proof of the child's continued life force. Then Jack resettled next to him and tugged Daniel close and he went willingly. He knew Jack wouldn't put Malachi down unless the father knew their son would be all right to sleep for a little while. He wanted to ask all the questions, how much had he grown since the previous day when they measured him. Did he eat enough? Did Jack notice anything else? The questions swirled around and around until Jack squeezed, making Daniel grunt in annoyance and surprise.

"Janet and Claire will see their way through this, they want to help with Malachi. Please don't spiral on me Danny."

Daniel just nodded but he didn't know if 'not spiraling' was an option. "I don't think I am strong enough for this Jack. I just don't think I can say to our daughters that it's up to them to save their little brother. That if they fail…" Daniel stopped because he didn't want to think about that happening. It was too much to place on the shoulders of the girls, even though they were smart and strong and courageous. Daniel figured they shouldn't have to be. They should be allowed to be children, it was so hard to live in a world where three of their children had already grown up too fast, and he didn't want to see the twins suffer the same.

"You have no one to blame but yourself for your children all having 'save others at all costs' gene."

Daniel snorted at that though it was a pathetic angry sound instead of humorous. "I love how that's all my fault Jack, how many times did you give everything to save other people?"

Jack shook his head, Daniel was pretty sure because he knew Jack but also the shake shifted through Jack's shoulder where Daniel's head was tucked. "I did anything and everything for you, maybe Teal'c and Carter but mostly you. You were the one who strove to save every single person we ran into." Jack paused, "I guess that means this would be partially my fault because we would both do anything for the other."

Daniel nodded in return and they fell silent, no desire to do anymore talking at the moment. Silence slipped over them, and they each listened to the sounds of Malachi breathing and when he shifted in sleep, which tended to happen a lot since he never seemed capable of getting comfortable.

"Maybe we should get the kids home and talk to them before Malachi wakes up," Daniel finally said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Jack returned gently, pressing a kiss to the top of Daniel's head before they moved to grab the walkie-talkie and recall the rest of their children. Daniel sighed, thinking they all deserved to come home to good news again, there had been nothing but bad stuff the last couple of weeks and he was looking forward to a change.


	10. Agony of Expectation

**Chapter Ten: Agony of Expectation**

It didn't take long before all the other children were tumbling through the front door and Jack did what he had to, to greet them with smiles and hugs. It was hard, given the dragging exhaustion still nipping at his heels but it was enough to hold his children again. They had been such troopers during all of this, they deserved some fun time out of the house but at the same time, Jack knew that they would rather be at home with Jack, Daniel and Malachi. He looked up towards the stairs as Daniel came down with a hand stuffing the little purple-vapor filled vial into his pocket before he nodded to Jack and they all settled around the living room. Ben walked towards the basement door, and waved to them and Jack nodded in thanks. His Pop was a smart man, knowing they didn't need to have this conversation with more people than was absolutely necessary, the only reason that all the kids were here at the moment was because Zada needed to know about her mother and they all deserved to know about Malachi.

Jack didn't understand the magic thing anymore than he liked it most days so he didn't know if what they were asking the girls to take something that they could never give up without the pain that Daniel had witnessed when the bio-moms had been disempowered. He didn't want to put them through more pain and confusion then absolutely necessary.

"How is Malachi?" Zale asked gently as he took Zada's hand in his gentle grasp.

Jack smiled, "He is resting, nothing new has happened but we are still deeply concerned about the damage that Erica warned us about in his mind and heart. We've had news though."

"Desire is dead," Zada stated matter-of-factly and Jack stared at her in shock.

"What?" he choked then looked over at Janet and Claire and they were nodding as well, like everyone knew. "What do you know about that? Why do you think that's true?"

"We felt the bond die slowly, it was hard to tell what it was because it was never very strong. Janet and Claire did not even share with me that they felt something as well at the same time. I did not wish it to be true, for Malachi."

Jack and Daniel immediately rushed over to their daughters and hugged them though Zada seemed to be completely detached from the loss while Janet and Claire were just sad. None of them were crying, there were no hysterics to be settled and the only thing they cared about was that their little brother was in danger and they had no solution.

"How can you not care?" Daniel asked gently.

Zada shook her head into Jack's shoulder before he pushed away from his loose grip and he looked into her dark brown eyes. "It is not about not caring. The sadness comes and goes but the damage she has done to Malachi is what we care about more. Janet and Claire had almost no bond with Desire, feeling little to nothing of the death of the bond. There was enough to notice a change but that was all for them. Mine was stronger and it was still a whisper's death in my heart. In the end I am sorry we were never more than connected through our DNA but it was her choice. She did not want us until it was too late. Neither of them did."

Jack resettled in his chair and Daniel followed his lead, not knowing what to say to their daughter. She had a point but he also didn't want her to be uncaring about the death of her mother. Sadly though that wasn't today's biggest concern. It was also increasingly bizarre to hear his baby girl talk like a grown up with grown up ideas. He didn't want her to be a grown up, he wasn't ready for that though to be fair she was close to her teen years age wise so he had better get ready either way.

"If Desire is dead then she cannot break the curse on Malachi," Zale finally said, bringing all of them back on track with his quiet and kind reminder. He was still holding Zada's hand, picking at the sleeve of his shirt while he stared at his lap.

Jack looked to Daniel and his husband started speaking since the scientist had spent so much more time learning about the ways of this world, "We have another option, one that we hoped would never come to pass but here we are without choice."

"Whatever it is, we have to do it," Zada determined with a single nod of her head, dark curls bobbing around her shoulders and cheeks.

"I'm sorry Z-Princess, it's not your choice to make. Someone has to take Desire's powers and break the curse. The only people capable of doing so are Janet and Claire, Zada you can't because of your Magis."

Zada nodded, "I should have realized, Sarafina would fight any other power within even if it was genetically passed down. She rewrote the rules for me when she woke."

"We can save Malachi?" Janet and Claire asked in eerie unison, thankfully they didn't do it all that often mostly because they knew it freaked him out when they did it.

"If you can figure out what Desire did and undo it."

"And then get rid of the magic?" Claire asked.

Daniel shook his head, thankfully since Jack didn't really know. "If the magic accepts you, it will bond to the abilities you already have and become a part of the whole. You will either keep it all or lose it all, and it will be painful if you choose to leave the magic behind. I don't say this to sway you to either decision, only to be honest about what we know."

Claire swallowed convulsively, clearly afraid of the ability and what it had done to Desire and Lust. They knew from the moment Jack and Daniel met Lust and Desire, they had powers that had forced them into the world of Damnation and Infidels, it wasn't something that Claire and Janet knew about because it had never been relevant but maybe Claire thought that by taking the powers, she could become Desire. Jack faltered, thinking that fear through as well, wondering what he could possibly say to alleviate it besides forget it, he wasn't going to lose two children like this.

Daniel reached out and took Claire's hand in his, "You could never be her, baby girl. You are too sweet and courageous. If you decide to do this, Papa and I will see you through the transition, we will start training and learn to deal with everything but you put that thought from your mind right this instant. This is her power it isn't her history and her actions. If and when you choose to take it, it will become yours without the strings of Desire. It would be your choice to turn them into something beautiful instead of something ugly and hurtful."

Claire nodded and leaned forward and pressed her forehead into Daniel's chest and he pressed a kiss to the back of her dark blonde head, Jack's heart melted at the sight and a tear threatened at the corner of his eye but it didn't try all that hard to escape. Sometimes the all the emotions that Daniel and the children could inspire in Jack were overwhelming and that one little touch had Jack's heart expanding at the sight.

When she sat back down next to her sister they looked at each other and smiled. Jack knew what they were going to say, he'd always known same as Daniel. It was why Daniel was so concerned that they were going to have to let their daughters' save their son by taking on the powers of the woman who bore them and only remembered them when she wanted something. They were brave and beautiful children and he didn't know how he got so damned lucky to have them in his heart and life.

"We will do what we must to save Malachi," Claire stated with a single nod of her head.

Janet nodded, "Me too Daddy and Papa. I don't want to say goodbye to Malachi now, he has to stay with us forever."

Jack smiled tremulously and everyone converged on the girls to hug them and kiss them. Jack got up when he heard the whimper float out of the baby monitor and walked upstairs just as the sound tripped into a cry and he opened the door. Walking across the room, talking loud enough to let Malachi know he was coming, he was okay until he stopped next to the crib and shouted for help before he pressed a hand down on Malachi's body, which was stretching his sleeper to the limit. He'd had another growth spurt, his littler hands trying to rub at his eyes, a little trickle of blood coming from his nose and another coming out of his ears. Jack's heart thundered in his chest, his breath choking off in his lungs as tears blurred his vision.

"Jack!" Daniel shouted as he burst into the room, thankfully Elle was following close behind and there was a blur of other bodies who tried to shift Jack to the side but he couldn't take his hand off his son, so desperate to pick him up but they'd learned that when the unnatural growth spurts happened, holding their son made it harder, made it all hurt that much worse. Then Daniel was at his side and tugging him out of the way of the blurred people, those who came to help his son. He should move but he couldn't. He wasn't going to abandon Malachi, he couldn't let the child go then Daniel was whispering in his ear, an arm around his shoulder and a hand on the arm that was attached to Malachi's screeching body.

"Let them work, come sit with me on the bed, please?" Daniel pleaded, the echo of a sob on his husband's words so he listened, his hand sliding slowly away from Malachi and the other hand loosened the death grip he had on the side of the crib. When his hands fell away, the control he had on his emotions snapped, ripping a cry out of him that any other moment he might be deeply embarrassed about but when Daniel just pulled him close for a hug, Jack just ignored his misplaced ego and took all the love and care Daniel was willing to dole out. He sank into the contact and gripped at Daniel's shirt to keep his husband close.

Unlike doctors, when Healers' took action there was always word very quickly whether it be good or bad. It only took a few miserable terrifying moments before Malachi's screams downgraded back to whimpers and Jack opened his eyes, pressing the heel of his hand into his eyes, getting the tears off his face as he turned towards the crib again, barely catching sight of the kids at the door but they were frozen and wrapped around each with terror and tears written all over their faces. Part of him wanted to go over there and hug them but the other part of him needed to hear what was happening with his youngest son. He needed to know the damage.

It was hard to think of Malachi's face scrunched up in pain and agony, his multicolored eyes closed to the world because of the stress on his body so far and Jack just wanted to hug him until life stopped kicking him. He hoped that would be soon.

He caught and held onto Erica's relieved blue gaze and moved forward enough to take her hand in one of his, while the other remained locked around Daniel's hand. "His body is turning on him, it cannot hold up to the aging process anymore. If you are to do something, it has to be done as soon as possible."

Jack nodded and turned to look at Daniel who nodded in return. "Do we need Akina to give the power to the girls?" he asked Erica.

She shook her head, "Do you have it?"

Jack's gaze hopped between the two of them while they spoke and watched as Daniel pulled the little vial from his pocket, the shivering purple vapor pressing against the sides of the container, as if it knew it was going to be freed. The problem was that it was going to be freed into he daughters. "Will they both receive it?" Jack asked.

Erica shook her head while she took the vial from Daniel and motioned for the twins to join them in the room and Ben scooted the rest of them towards the stairs. Jack didn't have the wherewithal to thank his father for being here for them through everything but he knew he didn't have to right now. Erica waved the other healers out of the room and suddenly the space was large enough to house them all once again. Jack and Daniel stood next to the bed, Janet and Claire stood at the foot of the bed between their parents and the healer next to the crib. Malachi was breathing the slow breaths of the exhausted and recently healed, they had gotten used to that rhythm in the past several months and Jack was sick of it all. He didn't like what they were doing, that it came down to putting their daughters at risk but it was just too much for him to contemplate losing his son, the child he nurtured to life with his unfit body. He'd done everything he could to get him here, he gave up the idea of being alive when it was all said and done, as long as Malachi survived and he wondered if the sacrifice would be worth it. His head and emotional heart said yes but then they gave the choice to their ten-year-old daughters.

"Give them the benefit of the doubt Jack, they wish to save their brother as much s you do. They understand something big is about to happen and that is more than some adults can truly understand. They want to see this through," Erica whispered after she moved in close enough to whisper the words to him. Jack nodded and turned to his daughters.

"Do they choose, which one will take it?" Jack asked finally.

"No, the power will seek the host in which it will bond and link to the power already residing there. This will become the most powerful ability one of your daughters will carry, the other power will become secondary because the mother's abilities is more pure Vannas. Now shall we see who the power chooses?"

Jack and Daniel nodded, the twins nodded and Erica opened the vial. At first nothing happened and Jack admitted it would jerk out into the world and attack his daughter but that didn't seem to be happening thankfully, then she tipped it upside down and the power finally moved. They watched as the slithering vapor wiggled and shifted into the air, moving quickly towards the twins and Jack forced himself to not bat it away from them. He wanted to call it back, make it all stop. Then realizing that by stopping this moment, Malachi's future would unravel and his present would come to an end sooner rather later, Jack just tightened his hold on Daniel and prayed for something and to something he didn't really understand.

He just knew he wanted to put off saying goodbye to his son, in fact he hoped he would be dead and barely, with Daniel the elderly widow before any of his children met their end. He couldn't survive another son's death so here he stood and watched as that vapor circled and turned into a fine bubble around both girls. He looked to Erica who shook her head before he looked back again to watch as the thing opened and changed into small particles on the air and then they all started slipping in through Janet's skin. She watched it in fascination while Claire reached out and touched her sister gently on the arm. Janet gasped and smiled, while Jack held back once more. Daniel tightened his hand around Jack's wrist and they watched as both girls lightened. Their skin didn't change, it was nothing as simple as a shape shifting feature, Jack had seen that more times that he could count in this magical land, this was as if sunlight had taken up residence under their skin and they were the source on earth for now. The daylight outside actually seemed to dim in comparison to them, then the particles were gone and both girls' returned to normal and looked over to Erica and smiled.

"This cannot be, they have done the impossible," Erica said, the shimmer of tears in her eyes making Jack nervous all over again.

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"They share Desire's power, it has now become something in both of them, each will retain parts of the whole but they will be capable of doing greater things together than apart."

"Story of our life," Daniel said with a snicker and Jack smiled a little in response. It had been a long time since those words were spoken but it was still true to this day, as long as Daniel was with Jack, then they could do amazing things. They could do impossible things.

"The powers have accepted them both, they can find the way to help their brother. The power started to choose Janet but when Claire touched her, it seemed some bond they carry was strong enough to split Desire's power. It is fascinating."

Jack cleared his throat, and Erica refocused as she turned and grabbed Malachi from the crib and brought him over to the bed. Daniel and Jack moved to bookend the baby, who was now about the size that the twins were when they turned a year old, it was shocking to say the least, realizing that his aging had progressed so quickly and as Daniel predicted all those weeks ago, Malachi was mentally behind. Their baby boy didn't know how to make his body function and they hadn't had the opportunity to help him learn because of the constant pain he'd been in for weeks now making every instant harder than the last.

Janet and Claire climbed up on the bed as Erica sat down close to Malachi. She spoke softly and slowly to the girls, not like they were stupid just that she wanted the twins to understand her. "Place your hand on him, both of you." When they did so, Erica continued, "Now I want you to close your eyes and look inside him."

Both girls gasped and Erica clucked her tongue gently, "Do not focus on the pain, it is residual and Elle will help with that as she can. I am sadly without power but she is coming back," the last was directed to Jack and Daniel. She turned back to Janet and Claire who still had their eyes closed with a hand on his stomach and slightly touching each other. They both had matching baby frowns on their face; scrunching their noses and making Jack's heart swell even more.

"Listen to his heart, his soul and body. Find the angry place inside, the one that continues to harm him. Look for it, seek out the darkness in your brave and beautiful brother."

Everything was silent, each of them watching the twins and Malachi, breathing quietly and slowly despite Jack's desire to throw himself head long into a panic attack. Daniel reached over and pressed his hand into Jack's thigh so he wrapped the other man's hand in his and squeezed a little, trying to offer comfort in any possible way.

"It feels like anger, hate and it's hurting him," Claire and Janet said simultaneously.

"That is it, does it look like something in particular?" Erica asked gently.

"A woven rope with fraying edges, it is pulling him apart."

"Pull the rope apart, disconnect it slowly. We do not wish to do more harm as we attempt to break the bonds."

The girls were nodding, eyes still closed and focused entirely on the job set down before them. Jack wanted to touch Malachi the urge was the only thing pounding through his head, making his fingers twitch and ache even after Daniel wrapped his hands around Jack's to hold him steady.

So instead he watched his girls, he watched his little boy and ached all over from the tension singing in his veins and muscles. He gripped at Daniel's hands like a lifeline and hoped there would be good news soon and he knew without a shadow of doubt that though the curse might be broken it would not undo the damage already done. Malachi had essentially lost a year of his life, had aged so quickly and they weren't going to know for a long time what kind of damage that had done. Jack sucked in a deep breath and just thanked something bigger than him that his daughters had been brave enough to do this for their little brother. When Daniel spoke to Claire only moments ago when she was sure she would become her mother if she took her power, he knew his husband was amazingly smart because it was true that Janet and Claire could never really be like that. They cared about everything and everyone too much, it hurt them to hurt others and they were tough little cookies. They were like their sister and their Daddy in that respect, it was something Daniel and he had argued about more than once, Daniel saying that Jack was always brave and he would always do what had to be done but Jack knew that had been trained into him. He became strong and capable; Daniel just rushed in headlong to save others whenever the option presented itself.

Jack was strong; he had always conceded that point but Daniel…

Daniel had always been courageous.

"It's withering, releasing its hold on Malachi," the girls whispered in that disturbing unison, echoing across the expanse of the bed and the pinging gently off the walls to die away.

"Good job girls, now let it go, it should fade away. Curses are not natural, they are not meant to continue in the soul, they were meant to be broken, always."

Claire and Janet nodded for a second then with another gasp they opened their eyes, looking worn around the eyes and mouth but happy. Erica reached over as Claire and Janet pulled away and Jack waited, his breath caught in his lungs before her shoulders sagged and she smiled, "It's broken, the curse won't hurt him anymore."

Jack slumped forward, dragging Janet into his lap and hugging her to his chest, trying to keep the relieved sobs from escaping out of his lips. Daniel was hugging Claire against his chest and each father reached out and pressed a hand to Malachi's stomach. Jack pressed a kiss to his daughter's head before he looked to Erica, "Can I pick him up?" he asked, scared that whatever the last attack had done was still going to be hurting him.

Erica smiled and nodded, he nudged Janet back down in front of him as Daniel whispered something to Claire and she grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her out of the room. Jack reached down and lifted the not-so-little boy from the bed and cuddled him to his chest. He listened to Malachi's breathing, felt the light thudding of his heartbeat and sagged against the headboard. Daniel was right there with him, pressing a gentle hand to the back of their son's head and pressing a wet kiss to the side of Malachi's head the another to Jack's cheek.

"We made it here Jack, it's going to be okay," Daniel whispered and Jack shuddered as all the walls inside came crashing down. He felt the fear he'd been living with as it slunk back into the shadows in the beautiful light of day. He looked over at Daniel, Malachi's head tucked into his shoulder and pressed his lips to Daniel's in a desperate kiss that was over before he could enjoy it. He didn't need to make out with Daniel right now, he would do much more later when he wasn't so exhausted but the moment they were in right now, the one that was fleetingly moving on to the next already was too important to just let go of without something. He'd wondered a little at a time if they could make it through this, if he could make it through this but at the same time he'd trusted in something bigger than himself, not God, not really. He didn't know what he believed about what was out there in the world that could see his son die at a young age and so many people die who Jack loved. He hadn't even trusted in the magic, he knew it was a chance but he had put a pin in it very quickly when they had to trust Desire and Lust to return and save Malachi. He had trusted all this time in the power of their family, that together they could make it through this and that was something he'd rarely had in his life, it came close to what he'd felt for SG-1 but not really because he'd been the leader and had to make the decisions about their lives all the time.

The strength of the Jackson-O'Neill's came almost effortlessly and it wasn't a power that knew what to do or knew the future or any such crazy thing even with Johnny. The power was that together they would continue to get through everything one step, one day, one minute at a time and all he had to do was take that step and hold out his hand. They would be there to catch him, and that wasn't just Daniel and the kids. Their family was also Sam and Teal'c and their kids, but also Pop and Adrian's family. He'd always hoped, before Charlie, for a big family and it had just taken some extra time to get here. It wasn't meant to be with Sara, Daniel was the partner strong enough to weather everything with Jack and he'd known that for a long time.

He held no ill will to Sara for not fighting for him because he hadn't been willing to fight for her either, a failing he always had to live with but Daniel was it for him and he always would be.

They really would make it through anything as long as they were together, and the knowledge burst through his mind in a wash of relieved exhilaration that had Daniel looking at him in confused happiness at the manic smile Jack could feel spreading over his features. Jack didn't care though, he would tell Daniel later when they weren't sharing Malachi with his siblings who burst through the door a second later, closely followed by their Grandpapa.

For now he would share Malachi with everyone and bask in another crisis averted.


	11. Coming Back to Life

**Chapter Eleven: Coming Back to Life**

Daniel watched as Ben said goodnight to Malachi, shuffling out of the bedroom and downstairs. The children had already said goodnight before they headed off to get ready for bed. Daniel would follow and make sure they weren't playing in a moment but right now he was too busy being captivated by Jack and their son. Sitting up on the bed, with Malachi on his lap and a bottle tucked into his mouth, the baby was content for the first time in over a month. He wasn't crying, he wasn't hurting and bleeding from his nose and ears. He was just their little boy again, though he wasn't so little anymore. When Johnny was his 'age', he'd been walking and close to running around the house, chattering and gripping everything. It was hard to realize that the end of the curse would not undo the damage done by the rapid growth. Malachi still didn't know what to do with his fingers, he didn't have the ability to grasp and hold things unless they were right in front of him and it didn't move but he couldn't truly hold anything. Right now, his chubby fingers were wrapped around the bottle, the other hand pressed against Jack's chest. When his teeth started breaking through his gums, Jack had stopped breastfeeding and they bottled as much of the milk as they could whenever Jack had the energy to do so since Malachi didn't know what to do besides suck on a bottle.

Right now though, despite the long recovery they would have, Malachi was alive and Daniel couldn't stop watching Jack and Malachi.

"As soon as he's done, we should go say goodnight right?" Jack muttered, not breaking eye contact with Malachi as he spoke to Daniel.

He smiled at Jack, his husband was just as enamored with Malachi as Daniel was and he was relaxed for the first time since they spoke to Erica and learned of the curse. Daniel sighed, realizing that Jack wasn't going to get up and say goodnight, so he walked over and pressed a gentle kiss to the side of Jack's face and another to the top of Malachi's head, "I'll let them know you will give them extra loving in the morning."

Jack looked up with a shimmering smile, just this edge of relieved and manic, "Thanks, I will. I promise."

Daniel smiled and squeezed Jack's shoulder before he walked out and headed to the stairs first to the top floor of their home. There were three rooms where Zale, Zada and the twins resided at the moment, Janet and Claire had demanded to be left in the same bedroom and for now Jack and Daniel had no intention of separating them when they didn't want to be. They were very good about going to sleep and not fooling around. Johnny had one of the rooms on the same floor as Jack and Daniel's master bed and bath since he still had so many nightmares and the other bedroom was for Malachi but for now it was a guest bedroom for Greer or anyone else who happened to stay over. He walked over to Zale's room and peeked in to see his son sitting on his bed cross-legged and his eyes were closed in a meditative state that Uncle Teal'c had taught him and that Akina and William had recommended so he could work with his magical counterpart. Daniel smiled as he whispered, "Hey Z, you ready for bed?"

Zale smiled as he took a deep breath and opened his eyes, that blue gaze so much like the one he saw in the mirror that he couldn't help but smile back. Though he had Daniel's eyes, he carried the coloring and bone structure of Lust, the high cheekbones but as Jack had said more than once, the dimples were a Jackson trait.

"Daddy, Malachi is going to be okay now right?" he asked instead.

Daniel figured this was going to be part of the night ritual today, after the curse had been lifted. They had all lived under the shroud of death for months and now they might have the opportunity to just be a family again. He wouldn't go so far to say they would get back to normal because what was that a lie that people tell themselves, normal for the Jackson-O'Neill's was a world of magic and multiple personalities, classes, healing and premonitions. None of that was the sort of normal that Daniel and Jack hoped for when their babies were young but what they had here didn't have to fit in some preconceived idea of 'normal' Daniel just needed it to be them against the world.

He walked over to the bed and settled down next to Zale for a moment and wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder. "Zale, I think we are going to be in for a long recovery for him but now because of the girls' he will have a chance to see it through."

Zale leaned into Daniel's side, a hand gripping his shirt and there was something about it that wasn't just holding onto Daniel, there was a sort of desperation in the grip and the shiver. Daniel tightened his arm around Zale's shoulder and wished for a second that his little boy was little enough to pull into his lap but honestly Zale was on the verge of thirteen and he was up to Daniel's chest. So he kept holding Zale as he fell apart and Daniel was pleased to be there to catch him. He pressed his other hand into the other side of Zale's head and shushed him gently, "I know Z, and we're going to get through this. You don't have to be so strong all the time for them and for us. You can cry as long as you need sweetheart."

So Zale did, he spent a few minutes sobbing into Daniel's shirt while the father gladly held him through it. It didn't take long for the sad sound to bring Zada into the room. She climbed up next to Zale, gripping him gently on the opposite side. Daniel moved his hand over to his daughter's curly hair and smiled when she looked up at him. He recognized the shimmer in those brown eyes, saying that she didn't know how to feel about a lot of the circumstances of recent events, what to feel about the fact that her mother was truly gone but also that the same woman was the reason Malachi had screamed so much recently and that her younger sisters' now carried the burden of their mother's powers.

Daniel hoped he had what it took to ask for help when he felt overwhelmed but also hoped he would always have what it took to sit and hold his children when they were hurting like this. He promised himself he always would, until his final breath.

With that thought, he tucked them into their beds, giving them each a hug and pressed a kiss to their foreheads then headed down to his daughters' room to find them tucked into the same bed, holding hands on top of the covers and they turned and smiled when he walked in the door.

"Hello my beautiful brave warrior princesses," he whispered as he walked over to the bed and knelt down beside it.

"Daddy," they said together gently with that tone that Daniel always used with Jack and the kids, the gentle hug and kiss in sound only. He loved that they knew that tone well enough to emulate it back to him. He scooted forward and pressed a kiss to Claire's cheek then Janet's as well.

"How you doing babies?" he asked gently, slipping the tips of his fingers over one forehead then the other.

Claire spoke as she so often did, Daniel took a moment to wonder if they should start spending time with the twins separately just so Janet could learn to have a voice but that wasn't tonight's problem. "It is strange to feel the power inside but not understand what to do with it. We feel the parts that she could not control and we wonder if she chose to ignore the possibility of control so they could do what they wanted when they wanted. Or maybe it is because the power is split between us and no longer concentrated. It does not feel as though we are affecting others with the powers as Desire once did."

Daniel nodded and smiled; he hadn't felt anything and the twins had once affected him so he knew the sensation. He knew what it felt like to have his emotions messed with by Desire and Lust and he hadn't felt anything but the love he felt for his children, the utter devotion he had for Jack and the beauty of acceptance from Ben. After all these years, the passion he had for Jack had not faded but it had deepened from that easy lust that the girls were able to access, he wanted to make love to Jack and seek him out in love but more than anything he wanted to hold Jack against him and cling to the fact that they were on the other side of another chaotic crisis and they were still together.

So he smiled and told them, "You haven't affected any of us girls, I think you are going to amazing and beautiful things with these abilities but we will have to figure them out as we go along, just like with all your other talents and abilities."

They nodded and settled together before Janet finally spoke up, "Zale and Zada going to be all right?"

Daniel smiled again, she was so kind and loving. They both were. "We will just have to hug them and tell them how much we love them and that we are all going to get through this. Malachi is in for a tough road but your bravery is giving him another chance. I don't want to forget to tell the both of you how amazing you are and how much I love you. Thank you so much for giving him back to us, he'll always know what you did for him when he's older."

They both shook their head, "He doesn't need to know, and he doesn't need to be indebted to us. He needs to know we love him and he loves us."

Daniel pressed forward to hug them both to his chest before he kissed them again and said a quick 'Goodnight' before he headed to the door, not knowing what to say other than just be amazed by them and just speechless at what kind of little girls they were and almost unable to imagine the kind of women they would someday be. In some ways, he couldn't wait to see it and in others he hoped he could put it off for at least a few more years. He left the door open a little in case they needed him in the night, with the release of tension it was possible they might be soothing nightmares tonight or tomorrow. He headed back down and walked into Johnny's bedroom, surprised to find no one there and then he heard the soothing low tone of Jack's voice and frowned as he walked back to the master bedroom. He couldn't help but smile when he found Malachi curled up on the bed between Jack and Johnny, father and son holding the youngest of them, the weakest and frailest of them.

Something amazing happened for Johnny when Malachi was born, like being an older brother changed something in him. He was stronger than ever, willing to fight and live to be there for his little brother. It was in these moments when Daniel was allowed to see the relationship between brothers and Papa. Daniel was happy to be a part of it. He walked into the room and tucked himself to Johnny's back. He pressed a kiss to the back of Johnny's head and smiled when he tucked himself closer to his Daddy. "You're supposed to be in bed JJ, maybe you should say goodnight to Papa and our little Spark before the rest of your siblings get jealous that you got to see him after bed time."

Daniel watched as Johnny pressed a gentle kiss to Malachi's head then got up and bounced close enough to kiss Jack on the cheek then climbed over Daniel. He sat up and held his son close and felt when his son's tiny arms wrapped around Daniel's neck and squeezed tight. Daniel smiled into his dirty blonde mop of hair, which was getting long enough to turn wavy, kissed his temple and whispered, "I love you so much JJ. You show us so much about hope and being positive."

Johnny nodded and transmitted his feelings through the contact he had with the back of Daniel's neck and he soaked in the love before he released his son to go get into bed. He was about to follow when Jack got up and pressed a gentle hand to Daniel's arm, "Stay with Malachi and put him to bed?"

Daniel nodded and watched as Jack wandered out of the room, heading towards the other room down the hall. Daniel turned and settled next to the sleeping infant, though physically he was probably close to a toddler now and Daniel was momentarily brought back to the first child that had been named for him, the one who aged years in a day. Thankfully that would not be Malachi's journey now.

He leaned down and pressed a slightly shaking hand to his belly, pressing a kiss to his clothed belly and took in his baby smell, "We are going to get you through this little guy. You have no idea the kinds of crazy things this family has already survived, you are going to be just fine."

Then he pressed another kiss to Malachi's stomach and smiled in relief at the easy breathing of a napping toddler. His heart rate was rabbiting out of his chest, the blood had been washed away and nothing was going to stop Daniel's little Spark from becoming something more than a cursed child in a magical world.


	12. Soothing Stillness

p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Chapter Twelve: Soothing Stillness/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"a name="OLE_LINK20"/aa name="OLE_LINK19"/aspan style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Jack walked back to the bedroom and found Daniel settling Malachi into his crib before he turned and smiled, a weary expression of happiness if Jack had ever seen one. Jack didn't stop himself from rushing over and wrapping Daniel up into his arms and pressing his husband close. This was the first time they'd been alone all day. He looked down over Daniel's shoulder at Malachi and amended that this was close enough to alone as they were going to get for a little while longer. And he was happy with that truth./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel's hands gripped the back of his shirt tightly with his nose pressed into his throat. Jack shuffled back till Daniel's legs touched the side of the bed and they tumbled easily into bed, the retired soldier throwing his hand down to the side of Daniel's head so he wouldn't land heavily on the love of his life. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Jack had no intention right now of anything more than touching and a little kissing happening with Daniel, he was too tired to think about that at the moment but he wanted to settle down and revel in their family and the bond they shared. He slipped to the side, next to Daniel. His husband followed so they stayed wrapped around each other, Daniel's leg slipping over one of his to tangle their legs together in a strangely comfortable mess. Jack pressed a hand to the side of Daniel's neck and looked into those blue eyes that had been in his dreams, and had been reflecting back to him so much love and joy for over a decade now. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel jiggled him a little, breaking his reverie, "What?" he asked./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""He's not cursed anymore," Daniel whispered as he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to the corner of Jack's mouth. He smiled into the contact and thought about their son and their daughters./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""How are the girls?"/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel sighed happily as he tilted his head back in gentle persuasion for Jack's mouth to traverse across the expanse of bare skin so he gladly slipped forward and pressed in a nuzzle then a kiss to the pulse point at Daniel's throat while the younger man spoke, "They are utterly and amazingly my little heroes. I don't know what to do besides stare at them in dumbstruck amazement and love them. We did something so right when he had them. All of them."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Jack grinned into Daniel's skin, pressing another kiss to his skin just above the jut of his collarbone, adding a little nibble along the line of the bone./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel continued, his voice a little breathless from all the attention he was getting at the moment, "They don't want Mal to know it was them that broke the curse, saying he didn't need to know the debt, he needs to know they love him and that's it." Daniel shook his head and Jack shifted back a little and looked at Jack, that shimmer of tears present again, "They are making peace with the powers and they don't need anything more than the love of their brother. I don't know how to show them what amazing little girls they are. How do we do that?" The tears were starting to shudder and fall from his lashes now. "How did we got so lucky? It's enough to make me want to believe in something bigger out there in the world, something that knew if you and I could just loosen the hold we had on our hearts, someday we could have these amazing children that would make us believe in hope and peace and happiness again, that they would be our strength when we need a little help. Jack, I don't know how to live knowing that we were given this gift and there is nothing to thank. Or that I thought there was nothing out there."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel's tears were coming in streams now and Jack pulled him close and pressed a hand to the back of his head and listened to the sniffles, interspersed with random bits of laughter. Jack was sure he'd never seen Daniel like this, in all the years they'd been together and all the years that came before. He didn't know how to deal with the huge thing he was feeling and at the same time didn't think there was anything he em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"should /emsay./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"So he pressed a kiss to the side of Daniel's head and held him until the other man calmed down from the hysterically laughing and crying. He soothed him gently with his hands and nonsensical sounds that they'd used more than once with the kids, he didn't care one little bit that his shirt was getting wet and wrinkled where Daniel was gripping it tightly, like a lifeboat in a dangerously turbulent ocean of feelings. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Finally, when the sobs were back to sniffles, he pulled back and wiped at the remnants of the tears on Daniel's cheeks. "I don't think we're required to say thank you to anything or anyone. I think we just keep living the life we're given; we love our children and give them the best opportunity for a good life. I don't think anything is a requirement. If you find something or someone out there, then so be it but don't do it because you feel beholden, do it because you believe. I don't remember much from my years in catholic school but I do remember that it's a choice, your choice."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel frowned but nodded; he took a deep breath and kept his gaze on Jack's face as his expression shifted again. Jack watched as all the things he'd been feeling about what was happening with their children shifted and focused into a burning light in his blue eyes and Jack couldn't stop himself from leaning in and pressing a kiss to Daniel's lips at the bright love and passion in his husband's gaze. Daniel smiled into Jack's lips and returned to kiss, slipping his mouth open and deepening the kiss. Daniel's hands slipped around Jack's sides and gripped at his back instead, pulling them together more completely as Jack moved between Daniel's open thighs and settled there. One of Daniel's legs gripped around the back of his leg and they stayed like that, just kissing and remaining plastered to one another until the fervor cooled, Jack wished he had the energy to do more than press against Daniel and kiss him but the rest of his body was unwilling to follow his plan. He sighed as he pulled away from Daniel's lips, nipping at the bottom lip before speaking, "I wish I had enough for fooling around right now Danny."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel sighed but he was still smiling, "That's okay, I honestly think I would fall asleep in the middle and that wouldn't do your ego any favors."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Jack chuckled, glad to hear that snarky Daniel was making a return in the aftermath of the curse. He slipped off of Daniel, and tucked his partner's head into his neck and they relaxed into each other, Daniel's hand resting on Jack's stomach comfortably and his other arm tucked between their bodies. Jack had one arm looped under Daniel's neck and the other was caressing little patterns into Daniel's hand and wrist./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""I never told you but I prayed for you when you were cursed with the pregnancy, when I didn't know where to turn or what to do. I don't know if it really did anything but for the first time in my life the idea of God or Gods was more than something in a dusty tomb or some sort of thing to study in an ancient society."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel fell silent and Jack pressed a hand to the side of his head and gave a gentle kiss to Daniel's forehead, "Why didn't you tell me Danny?"/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"He shrugged which was pretty much what Jack suspected would be the answer, Daniel was a private person sometimes about certain things, and he didn't know what to feel about God and so on though Jack knew that it meant something to him as an anthropologist and honestly they didn't really have theological discussions, not with Jack being a lapsed Catholic and Daniel seeing it from a purely scientific or cultural point of view. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""I don't know what I believe beyond this family, I have no idea if I can really go back to some kind of faith after Charlie but I believe in you and me and the kids. That's easy because no matter what we are always together. I know that that family includes Sam and Teal'c and their children, Adrian and his family, that is something I have learned to depend on and believe in but anything beyond that I think is still asking too much."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel nodded slowly, "I just feel small but not in a bad way. It's like destiny, intangible and finite all at the same time."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Jack grinned and tightened his arm around his husband as he whispered into the side of Daniel's head, "You don't believe in destiny Daniel."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"He shrugged a little again, "Maybe I do a little."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""Maybe that's all there has to be right now, just maybe that's all there is."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""I don't have to start prostrating myself before some mythical God morning, noon and night?" Daniel asked and Jack knew he was being snarky and maybe a little judgmental about a certain religion but Jack knew it was trying to get them both off of this topic, one that was too huge, all consuming, to be having while they were exhausted, relieved and desperate for some shut eye./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""Your choice Danny, look at the Vannas. They pray and believe in Gods, one of which lives in Akina so who knows."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"Daniel nodded again, "I'm tired Jack, I'm going to sleep and we don't need to talk about this in the morning. I just wanted to share it with you."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;""That's all you ever need to do Danny, just sleep now."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19;"span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20;"With that, Jack slid his fingers through Daniel's hair, the sensation lulling them both to sleep one pass at a time and before he could really think about anything for more than a minute, Jack's eyes shuttered down and he slept. It would be the best sleep he'd had in months, Jack thought with a smile./span/span /p 


	13. Physical Recovery

**Chapter Thirteen: Physical Recovery**

Daniel leaned back against the couch with Malachi between his legs, finishing up his diaper change. He took his time, using some lavender infused lotion on Malachi's slightly pudgy legs then slipped them back into his little sleeping suit and looked down as he grinned up at his Daddy. It had been a week since the curse broke and Daniel was realizing how much more time Malachi was going to need to recover. He was physically healthy again but the fact that he had teeth he didn't know how to use, he had legs that didn't function and had no idea how to make any noises besides cries of pain meant that the youngest of them was going to have some hard work in front of him.

So now, Jack and Daniel as well as the kids were working on him a couple times a day. Every time his diaper was changed, they sat him up, played with him to help him with tracking things with his eyes while also helping to hold his head up on his own which thankfully he was good at except his head had grown so he wasn't used to holding up the weight on his fragile neck. Other parts of the day were spent talking to him, reading stories and just communicating, asking him to make noise and start the verbal process. Finally, every day at feedings, they were letting him drink milk but also working on some different mashed up foods and as of yesterday, he was still wearing most of it but he was doing better and he was happy.

That had to be Daniel's favorite part about all of this, their happy little boy was back and no longer screeching in pain. He didn't care that they would have to struggle for a while with this as long as he wasn't hurting anymore.

"Hey little Spark, how you doing today?" Daniel crooned gently. He moved his fingers up to Malachi's hands and started messaging between the baby's fingers and up to his palm before he buttoned him up tight then reached out to lift him from the ground to sit him down, back between Daniel's legs and pressed to his chest. Daniel stretched one arm then the other, moving him and encouraging him as he smiled to Janet who walked in from the kitchen and headed over with some big fuzzy toys and sat down in front of Daniel with a smile. She held a stuffed bear out for him and Malachi reached out halfheartedly and tried to wrap his fingers around the bear's stuffed foot. He grunted at the effort it took for his long fingers to grasp the toy and his sister and daddy cheered him on as he dragged it slowly across his lap and into his arms. He lost contact with it once but was able to reclaim his hold. Daniel leaned down and praised Malachi for his work, the little boy just ignored him in favor of sticking the bear into his mouth and gnawing on it for a few seconds, a breathy giggle slipping out around the fuzz.

"Daddy, can Jake come over and play later?" Janet asked quietly and Daniel looked up at her with a smile.

"Did you ask Papa?" Daniel asked.

Janet shook her head; "Papa is resting on the deck with Grandpapa and the others in the backyard. I thought I would ask you before I woke him up."

"I don't mind baby, you do know you are probably going to be inviting the whole family over right?"

Janet nodded shyly and Daniel wondered about the timing. He wondered if getting the powers was giving Janet some way to pave her own way. He didn't really know but he wasn't going to keep her from having the chance to find her unique path as well as the one she would walk with her sister and her family.

"How do you feel Janet?" Daniel asked as he kept a hold on Malachi as he squirmed and moved, gripping the teddy in between his fingers. He focused most of his attention on his daughter since his son was doing just fine for the moment.

"I feel good Daddy, there is nothing right now from the powers, they were weakened in the split. When Claire and I are together, when we are touching that is when the powers rise."

"Are you avoiding your sister because of that?" Daniel asked gently, without judgment.

Janet shook her head, "No, but the power gave me something else. When it isn't strong enough to do anything more than help me see into the desires of others which even that is weak, it gave me more me. That bit of me wants to have my friends, not just my sister and the rest of my siblings. Is that okay Daddy?" she asked quietly, sounding guilty at even speaking the words.

Daniel wrapped one of his arms more securely around Malachi's waist, under the bear so he wouldn't lose his treasured and hard-earned grip on the toy and pressed his free hand to Janet's cheek, "Of course baby, having friends is so important. Why do you think Papa and I spend so much time with Uncle Adrian and Aunt DK, or Aunt Sam and Uncle Teal'c?"

Janet tucked her chin into Daniel's hand and pressed a quick kiss to his skin, something they learned from watching their fathers with each other and the rest of the kids. He smiled and listened as she whispered into his hand, "Claire and I have always been the only friends we ever needed, now that is changing. It scares me a little."

Daniel pulled his hand away and bopped her on the nose gently, making her giggle. Her shoulders bounced with the happy sound, making her long dark blonde hair shift as well. "Change is good sometimes sweetie but it is scary too. Don't let the scary keep you from trying okay baby?"

Janet nodded and got up, Daniel gestured towards the backyard where she would find her Papa as well as probably head over to Teal'c and Sam's place to ask the kids over to play. Daniel would love to join them but Malachi wasn't quite ready for playing outside where he didn't have any experience and there was so much stimulation for his constantly over taxed mind so for now, the comfort of the living room and the success of a teddy bear gripped in hand would have to be enough for the both of them right now.

After Malachi got tired of the bear, he dropped it and started looking around the living room, which was a new development. He was getting better at taking in his surroundings. Malachi leaned forward to press his little hands down onto the floor and started rocking forward like he wanted to move. Daniel held back the need to help him, he just wanted to settle his son on his knees so it would be easier for him to move into a crawl but just because Malachi was behind didn't mean Daniel could speed up the process. He didn't want to make the learning any harder by doing the hard stuff for him. Daniel sat and watched as he slowly got one leg out from under him and tucked back, grunting and whimpering at the strain. "I know Mal, you can do this sweetie."

After long minutes of apparent struggling, he was able to get both legs behind him and he was rocking, looking down at his hands but unable to move forward. Daniel grinned and spoke softly to him, "Good job buddy, your Papa is going to be so proud of you. My beautiful little boy."

Daniel didn't touch him until he started to topple then he reached out to brace him and move him back to sit on his lap, hugging him close and crooning gently to him.

"What you two up to?" Jack asked with a jaw-popping yawn while he scrubbed a hand through his hair. Daniel looked up, pressing another kiss to Malachi's head.

"You feeling better after your nap?" Daniel asked with a grin.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Pop was with them and since Janet dragged the kids over from next door, Teal'c and Sam are there. And yes, I feel better. How is he?" Jack asked and paused to grab some fruit from the kitchen before he walked over and crouched down in front of Daniel and Malachi.

"He's doing good, trying to start crawling and holding the bear for a longer time today. He's trying so hard Jack, he's pretty amazing."

Jack leaned forward and pressed a hand to Malachi's head, bringing the boy's gaze to his Papa and immediately reached out his hands for Jack. Daniel smiled and handled the child over, "Well I guess I have been replaced."

Jack took Malachi into his arms and knelt down to press a kiss to Daniel's lips, "Never," Jack whispered against Daniel's mouth and he couldn't help but smile. Then he watched as Jack bounced Malachi a little on his side, the little boy's pudgy legs swinging a little while Jack retraced his steps back to the kitchen and Daniel got up to follow, stretching as he did so. Even being in good health, sitting crouched over a baby for an hour was hard on the body so Daniel enjoyed stretching his arms above his head and shifting his back enough to settle the ache there before he followed. He watched as Jack sat down at the table with a cup of mashed fruit and another of vegetables. They usually boiled them then spent the time mashing them daily for Malachi's multiple feedings. He was still drinking a small amount of milk as well but he was working on chewing, keeping his mouth closed long enough to swallow the thick pasty food, one small spoonful at a time. Jack talked in a low gentle tone to their son and Daniel watched for a few minutes while he snacked on some nuts that they kept in a bowl on the counter for rumbling tummies before meals. He figured with how much snacking Zale and Zada were doing, they were heading for another growth spurt and he wasn't looking forward to it, they were on the verge of teenage-hood as well as being of an age to start testing and training to be considered adults in the Vannas society. From what Daniel knew, a coming-of-age time for a Vannas was physical, mental, emotional as well as magical. The fact that Zale and Zada were very strong magically at the moment meant their abilities could very well skyrocket when they hit thirteen and fourteen, it was an estimate from Akina, but Daniel and Jack knew that they were going to be done with a lot of the personal 'schooling' from that point on. They would be taken in with a mentor for their powers and though in some cases they might live with mentors for a short time, Daniel wasn't ready or willing to see that happen. Thankfully Akina and the Vannas understood that it wasn't a human tradition to just send off most children and just see them every couple of months.

Daniel had once shared that was much like boarding school from the 21st century but he was not willing to part with his eldest just yet, he wouldn't ever be willing he figured but he could pretend for now and keep working on it. Instead of thinking of his elder children's impending teen years, he refocused on Malachi who was trying to munch on the side of his fist after every few bites of food, Jack gently removing his little fist with a laugh and kept on talking.

"I'm going to go out with the rest of the kids," Daniel said and Jack nodded, not even breaking in his sentence to answer. Daniel leaned over and kissed Malachi on the head who broke concentration enough to give him a messy grin before Jack's next spoonful was in front of his face and he was leaning in to get it into his mouth. Daniel smiled, kissed Jack on the temple before he headed over to the door and stepped out. The noise level increased without the door between them and he smiled at the shrieks and giggles. Siblings were shouting at each other, about the rules of the game or whatever nonsense they decided to play. Daniel moved to sit next to Ben who was sitting on the top step, his feet on the ground and his elbows pressed into his knees. He turned and smiled as Daniel settled, "How is the little one?" he asked.

Daniel smiled, "He's doing okay, and he's eating some messy lunch with Jack for the moment. You think any of the kids are ready to go inside?"

Ben shrugged, "They seem to have an abundance of energy to burn today, haven't stopped running since they came out."

Daniel nodded and figured they deserved to be happy and excitable, they weren't living with a dying brother anymore. He figured that's where most of the energy was coming from. He watched as Johnny stopped short of what he was doing, turned with a grin lighting up his face towards the side of the house and Daniel turned to watch as Greer came in through the side gate with Elle and her mother Erica following close behind. Daniel smiled as Greer ran across the grassy backyard and grabbed Johnny in a close hug for a second before Johnny tugged away and immediately started talking with his hands. He did that a lot with Greer, having more recently decided he wanted to keep the drain of the telepathy to a minimum. Greer happily nodded and started talking right back, Daniel turned away since he didn't want to intrude on their private conversation, Greer would usually respond verbally as well, as well as keep up the practice with his hands and Daniel knew a lot of sign language as well since he'd helped his son with some of the basics and continued learning not only the standardized signs but the ones that Johnny made up because he felt the standard signs were silly or they weren't easy to remember. He always shared with everyone when he was making new signs, telling them what they meant so after a year and a half or so since they had first happened upon sign language, it had become Johnny's language.

He shifted his gaze over to Elle and Erica, the mother-daughter duo were looking more alike every time he saw them. Elle broke off and walked over to Zada and Claire and started chatting with them easily, laughter and ease in the backyard with all these children younger than her, but then she'd grown up around Daniel and Jack's family, her mother was one of their primary healers.

Erica moved to lean against the deck and smiled at Daniel, "How are you Daniel?" she asked gently.

"Doing good, thanks for asking. Jack is inside with Malachi if you came for a checkup."

She shook her head, "I came to ask you when you would like to start meeting with me, you and Jack. You should possibly also set up a schedule for all of the children as well. I believe now is the time to work through so much of the pain and confusion you went through because of the pregnancy and the curse."

Daniel shrugged and turned away, it wasn't that he didn't trust Erica. He did, with everything he had but there were so many things that Jack didn't even really know yet, and he felt like it would be unfair to share them with Erica.

"It is possible to start in some couples sessions and then shift to private sessions Daniel," Erica responded gently.

He glared at her in a quick glance before he continued to look out into the yard where his kids and their friends were just little flurries of activity around the space. They were going to have to enlarge the space pretty soon, figure out some other places that the kids could run around because the small backyard that had been perfect when they were little was not cutting it anymore, especially with their friends as well.

"Daniel, please I hope you think about it."

He nodded and thankfully Erica was very good about not being pushy about her thoughts and allowing Daniel and Jack the opportunity to think and talk things out. He knew she had a good point, Jack and Daniel had gone through things that they had never thought possible, they had survived it but one thing they had learned in the time since they arrived in this world, sometimes they couldn't figure out things on their own. That included emotional things sometimes, Daniel figured they were lucky they'd survived this long without turning on each other or hurting each other especially in the last year while Jack was indisposed and after Malachi got sick. It still wasn't really something Daniel had the guts to decide on the back porch with his father-in-law on one side and all the children roaming nearby.

Erica walked past him, into the house and Daniel could hear the muffled greeting between her and Jack, knowing she would say the same thing to Jack as well as check in with Malachi to see how he was faring though Daniel was pretty sure there wouldn't be any surprises there since he'd been so happy despite the frustrating level of endurance and time it required him to accomplish anything at the moment.

Daniel knew their little Spark was going to be just fine, as long as the Jackson-O'Neill spirit and stubbornness stayed with him.


	14. All for the Good

**Chapter Fourteen: All for the Good**

It was so easy to keep falling in love with Malachi; it wasn't just about the physical connection for Jack. They worked with him, helping him to function to a greater degree every single day, hours of time dedicated to everything that his siblings had ever been able to do with hardly any effort. It was hard to see sometimes because he worried that Malachi would never be able to play catch up but on the other hand he was happy and worked right along with them. He giggled and he loved his siblings, starting to know their faces and recognizing each of them. Jack loved seeing the life in those eyes, and knowing that this was just what it was like to recover from some sort of birth defect or mental retardation. He knew that this wasn't exactly the same thing, obviously but it was close enough to be helpful.

The rest of their day passed in teaching and working with Malachi, each of the kids coming in at various times to help Daniel and Jack with the therapy. Daniel and Jack were taking turns so they could spend some time outside with the rest of the children who were barely calm enough for lunch before they were up and buzzing about in the backyard once again. The last time Daniel had switched off and headed for the door, Jack had taken a peak outside and found Daniel tucked into one of the chairs on the deck with Claire curled up in his lap and they were just talking to each other, undoubtedly in a different language. He'd watched, love shimmering in every dark part of his heart and soul watching them together. He walked away when Daniel pressed a kiss to their daughter's head and smiled at something she said, shaking his head in amazed humor.

If Jack were really honest with himself he would say that it wasn't hard for him to fall in love with his husband and every single one of his children over and over. The rest of the day passed like that until they were climbing into bed with Malachi sleeping after his long evening and Jack sat watching as Daniel shimmied quickly out of his clothes and slipped into his sleep pants and t-shirt. Jack felt the pleasant warmth of desire spread from his chest and up to his cheeks but he ignored it as he thought about what Erica had come to talk to him about. He knew she was speaking of their best interests and she'd been worried about Daniel's reticence. Jack knew how much they'd had to deal with and there was never time for them to get through each change together.

"Danny, did you want to talk about Erica's request?"

Daniel flinched but turned and started getting into bed anyway. Jack took it as a good sign that he wasn't self-hugging in the opposite corner but then again they weren't really talking yet.

"Jack, I'm not against it. There are so many things we haven't talked about in recent months that I don't want to go in there thinking that she is going to get to hear it first. I wasn't trying to hide anything from you, there were so many things happening and I didn't know how to deal with it by the time the next thing was happening. We haven't spent so much of our time in recent years on the kids instead of our relationship, I honestly don't know who we are in some ways as a couple anymore."

Jack reached over and took Daniel's hand, leaning close and pressing a kiss to the inside of Daniel's hand and smiled. "Then maybe it's time we spent a little time reacquainting ourselves."

Daniel waggled his eyebrows with a evil smirk on his face, "Though I have missed us in that way, I don't think that's going to help."

Jack chuckled, "Not what I meant Daniel."

"Maybe you shouldn't look at me like that while you're saying it then," Daniel said with a lazy gesture towards Jack's face with his free hand. Jack smiled and didn't downshift his thinking in the least, he wanted Daniel to know that this new version of Daniel, whatever that might entail was going to be the person Jack picked over and over again.

"Tell me one thing that you felt you had to hold back recently, for whatever reason," Jack requested and pressed his other hand around the one captured in his other hand. Daniel smiled down at the gentle hold, he could easily slip free if he needed to and Jack was grateful that he didn't feel like he needed to.

"I missed the old you, the one that you were before Malachi a lot, I would never give him up for anything but I sometimes miss the hard ass General O'Neill who wouldn't cry about anything, he gave me strength when I didn't have of my own and there were times when I didn't know how to find the strength without the old you by my side."

Jack smiled at the way the words tripped over each other trying to get out into the air, slipping into quiet after the little speech and he settled on his side, head on his pillow while Daniel did the same so they could look into each other's eyes. "Daniel, I miss the old me sometimes too, I am still the hard-ass and I am going to do everything in my power to keep you safe and happy whenever I can. I know it was so hard for you, taking on the warrior role which you did with panache I might add," Daniel snorted at that and Jack smiled. "You don't to be that forever though, I'm still here. I know you had to think of the worst, you were watching the worst-case scenario everyday but it's not like that anymore. I am not dying any faster today than I was yesterday and I am going to stay with you until someone comes to drag me away. And I will be kicking and screaming the whole time."

"Like a girl?" Daniel asked with a little smirk.

"No," Jack scoffed, "Like a Black Ops military General."

"Oh they kick and scream?"

"Uh huh," Jack said, still grinning as he squeezed Daniel's hand that was still loosely held in his hand between them.

"I'm pretty sure you are going to sound like your twin daughters, just high pitched and embarrassing."

"Nope," Jack shook his head a little, made difficult by the way he was laying down but sobered after a moment, "I wondered if because you were such a wonderful and strong warrior if you would still need me. I sometimes wonder if that's all I'm good for and when I am incapable of protecting you and the kids then is that going to be enough?"

Daniel scooted forward, pressing his lips to Jack's in a sweet and slow kiss, lingering over the taste and the scent of Daniel in the bedroom. After all the years, Jack figured their scents would have been overlaid so much that he wouldn't still be able to distinguish the clean simple scent of Daniel's skin and he was happy to find it still there when he took a deep breath. After a few minutes of leisure necking Daniel pulled away and smiled again, "Don't be stupid Jack."

Jack barked out a quick laugh at that before Daniel continued.

"If I wanted someone who would always protect me then I would've married Teal'c," Daniel said and Jack snorted at the picture that made and was glad he felt no jealousy at the image floating around. "I love you because you are the best friend I have ever had, you are the person who saved me as many times as I saved him. You, Jack O'Neill, were the only person I trusted even when I didn't listen, I needed you all the time and none of those things had to do with your background or your ability to kick some serious ass."

"I love you too Danny, I always want you with me. I feel like when I fell in love with you, there was just something in my head that said I didn't want to share you with anyone ever again, not after all those girls on different worlds. I feel like something inside me shifted in a way I would have never planned or wanted, it was just the way my heart got to keep you."

"Are you saying you went a little crazy for me?" Daniel asked with a smirk.

Jack nodded with a smile, at the time he had felt crazy but the desire to hold Daniel close and never let him go had overridden all of his mental facilities. It seemed like there was nothing to stop him from proposing or asking Daniel to throw himself into fatherhood and the family life. "I think in some ways, working with Akina so much in the beginning was my stubborn need to remain who I was instead of looking straight into who I was then. I wish in some ways we had been given the opportunity to go through the motions of finding out everything slowly, realizing our feelings together in the sanity and calm of the past with no magic involved but that didn't happen and I wouldn't give up the years I have with you for the safety of not changing in retrospect. I was crazy, I didn't know who I was anymore, and again you were there for that and that was equally amazing and distressing."

Jack waited for Daniel to ask for an explanation but he just nodded instead, "I hear you there, dealing with magic has been a lot like living in a reality TV show where the audience always knows what you're thinking or feeling before you do. Not to mention there were a lot of things we rushed into in the beginning, like we were high all the time but almost lucid enough to pretend there wasn't a problem with living life like that."

Jack smiled, pleased that they were on the same page about this and neither of them were hurt or angry. It stood a small time of their past, not their present. They'd never really talked much about the tumultuous and magical beginning as a couple and it felt good to not have it trapped in his mind anymore. It wasn't something that ate at him but they did go at this very strangely but then magic had made a lot of things weird for them. He didn't regret going 'a little crazy' over Daniel but he doesn't like having basically being forced to accept it when he wasn't ready to.

He leaned in and kissed Daniel again, dragging out the sensation until Daniel tucked his chin and ended the kiss.

"Is that enough therapy for tonight?" Daniel asked sweetly, pulling his hand from Jack's to press into Jack's chest. He grinned as Daniel pushed him back to lay on his back and Daniel leaned close as he pushed Jack's shirt up and out of the way as Daniel continued some physical therapy instead. Jack settled back and enjoyed the sensation of soft lips on skin, fingers dancing across his chest and down further, proving that Daniel was more than willing to put away the mental stuff to reacquaint themselves with the love they shared in a much more satisfying way.


	15. Loose Ends

**Chapter Fifteen: Loose Ends**

Without the threat of the side effects of the aging curse, many things settled around the Jackson-O'Neill household. Jack and Daniel were still doing therapy with Malachi, with the kids' help. They spent time with Sam and Teal'c and their children in the backyard and within each of there homes. Daniel was glad to know that they could get past what happened between Sam and Johnny. Also the two fathers were going to start some sessions with Erica to work through some of the changes that had come and gone so quickly they'd had no time to deal and the kids were getting ready to return to magical studies and a life something close to serene and normal. There was just one thing that made Daniel feel like there was some impending doom that could be on the horizon.

After everything that happened with Desire and Lust, with Desire's eventual death Daniel knew that Lust would undoubtedly blame them for what happened to her sister despite the fact that her actions led her down a path of eventual destruction. Daniel knew that they were partially the reason Desire had lost her life because she'd been banished from the island without powers, and Lust knew it. He knew the surviving bio-mom was being contained within a cell at the castle since she couldn't be kept safe out there in the world where bounty hunters were likely to attack or take her again. Since she'd clearly been broken by the torture and eventual death of her sister, Damnation felt that she would be a danger to the camp and the island if she were captured so being in a cell in the castle was the safest option but to Daniel it meant that she was close by and if she ever got loose again maybe she would just come for them again, crazy and powerless but not any less dangerous.

He didn't know what to do about it, wanted to speak to her possibly but there was nothing to say. She would have to discover that they could live harmoniously in the same world and on the same island but on the other hand he treated her poorly right after she lost her sister and they had once been friends. He thought that maybe she deserved an apology for that at least.

So instead of doing something, he waited to see what Jack would say and of course his loving and over-protective General's response was pretty much what he figured it would be, simply put 'she can rot' ended the conversation because he didn't want to go behind Jack's back about something so contentious. Jack knew she was a threat and there was no way he was ever going to be okay with Daniel or the kids being anywhere near her without him which Daniel could understand.

That day they were spending a lazy afternoon in the house; all the kids were working on 'schoolwork' while Jack and Daniel were sitting in the middle of the living room with Malachi between their outstretched legs. In the past couple days the baby had learned how to rock on his hands and knees, itching to start the crawling and they were all rooting for him to do it. "Come on little man, you can do this."

Malachi looked up from the floor beneath his feet at Daniel's voice with that little confused frown on his face. He looked back down once again, lifting his hand and moving it forward a fraction of an inch before he put it down and repeated it with his other little hand, but then he faltered not knowing what to do with his legs then just slid to the floor. Daniel chuckled quietly as he righted Malachi and looked up to see Jack clapping quietly. Sometimes loud noises startled Malachi into crying and right now were a moment of happiness. Daniel cuddled Malachi than handed him over to Jack who kissed their son and then set him down, feet on the ground and waited until his locked his knees a little before bouncing. It seemed like he was getting stronger every day, he was gaining balance and they were getting to see it. Daniel watched as Jack walked into the kitchen with Malachi, to get him a bottle before his nap. Daniel refocused on the other kids, getting up to walk over to where Zale and Zada were studying. They were speaking quietly in Aramiac, which was the latest language Daniel was teaching them and they were getting good. It wasn't all that surprising after all the years he'd spent teaching them secondary languages, they spoke other languages sometimes more than English. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Zale's head, then Zada's and they both looked up with a smile. He didn't stay with them for long, knowing that they would want to finish their 'lesson' before they left for class at the castle. He checked on Janet and Claire who were finished with the lesson they were given and they were coloring quietly. Daniel smiled, leaning down to hug them too. They were still, weeks later, his little heroes. They sincerely didn't want Malachi to ever know what they did to keep him alive but Daniel and Jack would know, Zale and Zada and Johnny would know and all the other kids didn't treat them any different per se but they did find all sorts of bogus reasons to hug, or play with the girls, to give them little presents every once in a while.

Claire put up with it but Janet had always been the shy and quiet one. She would blush a little at the attention and so they heaped it on her more when they could. Janet was also coming out of her shell in ways that Daniel had never realized she was in a shell. She and her sister were going to speak with Damnation a couple times a week, as well as a few of the Infidels because they understood a little better about the kind of pervasive power the girls now held though Claire and Janet had both continued to say that they weren't having trouble controlling and containing the ability that had caused Desire and Lust to be secluded from the rest of the Vannas in the first place. He wasn't ready to say that Desire had just been too lazy or selfish to learn control, especially since the powers had been shared between the girls and so it wasn't as concentrated in one of them.

And in about thirty minutes or so, Daniel and Jack were going to walk into his office and share their first joint session with Erica. That was the concession Daniel had decided to make, despite the inclination he had to hide aspects of what he was feeling from Jack. His courageous General had convinced him to try.

He walked over and hugged Johnny from behind and whispered in his son's ear, "How you doing JJ?"

Johnny nodded, he used his hands to spell out what he was trying to say, _'Good, Daddy. Is Greer still coming over?'_

"Yeah sweetie, he is going to spend some time with you and the girls here while Papa and I are in our meeting with Miss Erica."

He nodded and Daniel pressed another kiss to the side of his head before he met Jack at the door of the kitchen with a bottle plugged into Malachi's mouth. Daniel leaned down and kissed their son's head before Jack passed by and Jack pressed a kiss to Daniel's mouth. "I am going to sit with him for a little while okay?"

"Okay Jack," Daniel said with a slight smile. Jack didn't breastfeed anymore though he had pumped for a while after Malachi got teeth because he still couldn't eat much more than the milk but now Jack had a tendency to still close himself off in the bedroom with Malachi during one of the feedings so he could continue to keep that connection he'd had with their son. Daniel found nothing to be upset about in that scenario, he was just glad that Jack didn't care anymore about Daniel seeing him for what he was. He would be ready when Jack came down because the couple's counseling, though strange and terrifying to Daniel, was for them both. He was grateful to have the opportunity to relearn the relationship he had with Jack. And some small part of him, the one that loved Jack no matter what was a little excited to see what it would hold for them.

Jack put Malachi down in the crib gently, knowing his youngest was seconds away from truly being asleep. He slipped his hand gently over the top of his hair before he turned away before he felt the urge to pick Malachi back up again. Sometimes, even after the day to day chaos of the curse had worn off, what was left behind was a desperate need to constantly know that Malachi was going to be okay, that he was still breathing and there was no more bloody mornings or nap times. He didn't know if he believed they were never going to see the curse again, it had cropped up twice now and he was concerned about a third times' a charm kind of scenario. It was something that would undoubtedly come up at sometime in counseling, whether with Daniel or alone with Erica. He didn't think he could survive without a heart attack if something like this happened but then again he'd been positive that he wouldn't survive Malachi's gestation, he'd been damn sure he wouldn't survive a lot of things in the past thirty years or so.

Jack figured it was time to stop wondering or thinking he knew what he was capable of surviving, he wasn't alone. He had someone who fought for him as well as with him, he had the kids and someplace safe for them to all live together and that was more than he'd had after Charlie. He'd been so willing to throw any chance of anything real out the door with the trash before that Abydos mission and since then, Daniel and the kids had taught him so much about strength and true selflessness in their own ways.

He walked to the door and closed it behind him, holding the partner to the baby monitor that was left in their bedroom and headed down to find Erica sitting in the living room with Daniel and Elle who apparently enjoyed traveling with her mother or possibly she was just looking to spend some time with friends instead of training. Jack didn't mind, he winked at the girl who did so in return before Erica stood and Daniel led them all into his office.

"We'll be done in a little while, ask Grandpapa if you need anything," Jack said and nodded to his father before closing the door and headed over to sit next to Daniel on the small couch in the room. Erica took up residence in the comfy chair that sat in front of Daniel's desk.

"Where do you believe we should begin?" she asked gently.

Daniel looked down at his hands, the insecurity in his actions making Jack want to slide over and hold him but he would wait and give Daniel a little space, this wasn't easy for him. He hadn't done a lot of counseling with Erica over the years, he hadn't even had much time with counselors after the assault in the past which may be why he continued to have trouble sometimes but the only experience he had was the doctors telling him he was crazy or a few times when he was seeing someone after his parents died and Jack didn't know much from that experience but he could imagine. Jack had been meeting with Erica, off and on for years, so he sat forward and leaned his elbow into his knees.

"I don't know where to start actually but Daniel and I were talking a little the other night about what it was like to fall in love the way we did. That it was like there was nothing we could do to stop it from happening, we felt like in retrospect that it was rushed and forced in some ways. We don't regret being together or the kids but in some ways we would have liked to have more choice in the matter."

Erica nodded a little and looked to Daniel, "Do you feel like that about Jack getting pregnant then becoming the protector instead of the beloved teacher you always preferred to be?"

Daniel sat back, shocked at her question and Jack realized he wasn't going to know that this was how Erica worked, getting to the base fear or concern very quickly then moving through it. "I don't know, maybe…." He paused and took a deep breath, clearly uncomfortable then he started speaking and Jack closed his eyes and just listened, "I hated Jack a little at the time, he wouldn't give up Malachi and I was going to lose them both in the process. I didn't want to lose him; I could give up the Spark, especially before he became something more than that, the spark. I can't live without Jack, I would because I would have to because of the kids but it would be like my other half was missing. It wouldn't be like a limb but the half of my heart and I didn't think I could handle that. I hated that Jack was so willing to give up his life for the sake of this child, created with the only purpose of destroying the love of my life. I fed that fear and anger, I ran from him and I fell into the protector role because the kids needed me to be, Jack needed me to be but I didn't like that. I don't like knowing the things I know now. I am glad I was able to fight back when necessary but it didn't stop Johnny from getting hurt, it didn't keep Zale safe. It didn't keep Zada from standing in front of Desire, willing to destroy the woman who gave birth to her and gave her half of her DNA. I feel as though I have made a sacrifice of self that I have seen nothing but harm done anyway. I don't know what to feel about any of it."

Daniel took a deep breath, it shuddered out of his lips and he swiped at the offending tears seeping from his lashes and Jack couldn't stop himself from sitting back and opening his arms. Daniel shifted closer and pressed close for a hug, tucking his head into the crook of Jack's neck and they waited for something from Erica. Honestly most of what she did was internal, she didn't have to speak to give them the release they were hoping for, her job was to see into their hearts for the truth of the struggle and she would seek to help them relieve the tension of those feelings.

Jack pressed his hand to the side of Daniel's head and kissed his head, "I'm sorry Danny."

"No Jack," Daniel said with a quick jerk of his head. "It's not something you should apologize for, you were so brave and I was so afraid. I had to keep you at the expense of a child, I should have stood by you in your decision, and I shouldn't have left you alone all the times I did."

Jack held his husband close, "Aww Danny, let it go. It's in the past and we're here and together. Do you hate me now?"

Daniel shook his head and Jack looked over to Erica for a second and she just nodded and smiled, letting them continue as if she wasn't there, "I didn't hate you then, not really. I was so scared and I think I can't help but still be scared. I feel like we are always in danger, there is always going to be something outside that door trying to tear us apart and I don't want to live like that. I don't want to be afraid of everything all the time!"

"I know Danny, you don't need to be. We are going to get through this like we have everything else."

"Together," Daniel mumbled into Jack's chest and he smiled, glad that Daniel stilled believed it enough to say it.

Then Daniel took a deep breath and something shifted in him, he leaned heavily into Jack and it occurred to him how tense Daniel had been for months now. He'd been holding back the tension with the children but whenever they were together Daniel had been so full of fear and anxiety and Jack hadn't really realized. Daniel was so good at hiding what he didn't want Jack to know but part of that was Jack not spending the time with Daniel to feel out what he needed and wanted. It wasn't just about being good parents, it was still about being good to each other and it was a harsh reminder that he hadn't been doing as well in that area.

"We're going to keep working on this Daniel," Jack whispered and pressed a kiss to the top of his husband's head.

Daniel nodded, "I guess I am glad that no matter our beginning and everything that came and went in the time we have been together I am glad we have each other, I have my best friend, my partner and my love and I am just lucky that they are all one person. I agree that I wish we had a different beginning but our continuing story, despite its chaos I can still never be regretful about having you."

Jack tightened his arm around Daniel, he hadn't wondered about that. When he and Daniel had talked about it before, when Daniel had said more than once in the past eleven years; what if we hadn't happened, none of it had ever been because Daniel didn't love him with everything he had. It always had to do with Daniel's never-ending concern for everyone but himself, wondering if they were kidding themselves by staying together due to the problems it had caused with Jack's family or his continuing career. Daniel was a man who wanted everyone to be okay and they had worked through that together in a lot of ways but it wasn't something easily forgotten. So hearing that Daniel was happy they had each other, that he felt as lucky as Jack did to have Daniel was reassuring in a way he didn't realize he'd needed.

"I'm the luckiest man on the planet, just remember that Danny."

Suddenly Erica was next to them, pressing her hands into both of their chest and Jack felt the familiar warmth that came from the emotional healing that was such a big part of what Erica did. He took a deep breath in, leading Daniel subconsciously into a breathing rhythm that would help the younger man through this on his first time. Daniel followed his lead easily and then it was over.

"I believe we are done for the day, you both did very well," Erica said as her hand's slid away and took a step back. Jack took a few more deep breaths and rubbed a hand down Daniel's arm to soothe him, noticing the slight shudder.

"What was that?" he finally asked.

"That is why Erica is a mental and emotional healer more so than a physical healer, she has the ability to seek out the pain and start the healing process but it can only be found by talk therapy," Jack responded.

Daniel smiled up at Erica, "You are very good at what you do."

She nodded and they moved towards the door, opening it just as Ben raised his hand to knock. Jack frowned then looked over his father's shoulder to see Akina and Lust standing at the door and heard Daniel gasp just behind him at the sight of one of the people he wished he would never have to see again and even then it might be to soon.


	16. Standing In Judgement

**Chapter Sixteen: Standing in Judgment**

The first thing Daniel did was scan the room and found all the children were close to the kitchen door, as far from Lust as they could get without being gone. He understood that they probably didn't want to stay but were too curious to leave. Zale was shaking a little, so was Johnny so Daniel nudged past Jack who was glaring at Akina and Lust while he walked over and pulled his son's into his embrace and settled them as quickly as he could, loving words in their ears letting them know he would protect them. Nothing was going to happen to either one of them as long as Daddy and Papa were here.

Jack spoke, his voice vibrating in anger, "What the hell is she doing here?"

Akina, apparently wasn't up for Jack's lack of fealty today, "Watch your tone Jack, remember who you are talking to."

"I do remember your Majesty, Lady Zarkina. I am speaking to the woman who brought the woman who burned down our home back into it. You might be queen but this is supposed to be a place where our children can feel safe," Jack reiterated and Daniel turned, keeping the boys and girls tucked behind him.

"I make a promise that she will do no harm, she asked to see you and I have allowed it. She has sought to change her mind about the way she has seen living and life. She wishes to speak about this fact with you and Daniel. You do not have to keep the children here."

"This is their home, why should they leave?" Jack demanded before Daniel had a chance to say anything.

"I mean they should go upstairs to their rooms, give you some privacy with her for this conversation."

"And you are deciding we should have it? We have no say?" Daniel asked, even though he did want to speak with her, he hated when Akina threw her weight around in issues that were personal for Jack and Daniel, things that had no bearing on the Vannas people at large. Daniel understood her desire to see her people happy and to do her best to seek that out for all of them but he didn't think this was something anyone was going to be able to force Jack into, or him for that matter.

"I ask you to give her but a few moments? Has she not earned at least that? She is powerless and alone in this world now, there is nothing for her without the connection she has to this family. I would seek to rehabilitate her instead of seeing her rot in a cell for the rest of her time on this planet."

"Manipulation of such easy means is beneath you, Milady," Jack said with a sardonic smirk. Daniel smiled but wiped the expression away when she looked over to him. He was happy that the kids were going to be upstairs, since he motioned for them to do so as Jack was speaking. They did so slowly and he knew they were going to stop in the first bedroom they could find and they would huddle together there, hoping to catch whatever was being said. He didn't really expect anything less because this was just as much about them as it was about Daniel and Jack. He did think that Lust deserved a few minutes of their time.

"Jack, can we please hear her out?"

Jack glared at him for a second then faltered, knowing that Daniel had asked this not that long ago so he nodded and walked closer, Daniel took up position at his side and they waited. Lust moved to sit down on one of the chairs and she looked up at them and sighed.

"I wanted to let you know that something you said spoke to me, Daniel. I have nothing when I believe I have nothing, it does not mean it is the truth. I believed after everything that happened you would never seek to forgive, especially after what Desire put you through as well. I do hope there is some way to see our way out of the anger and hurt we have caused one another. Whether perceived or real. I understand that the feelings I had that you were keeping the children from us to hurt us was not true. I see the truth in myself, that I was willing to hurt Zale rather than respect your choices as their rightful guardians. You love them and would do anything for them, much like I felt for Desire and she felt for me."

"And what do you hope for with this forgiveness?" Jack asked, crossing his hands over his chest. Daniel reached out and pressed his fingers into his husband's lower back gently to offer comfort.

"I hope for a chance to see this family as mine, not just the sons I gave to you but also the daughters that are a little piece of Desire. I wish to see them through this transition as I had powers similar to my sister's. I would hope that with time, I could be seen as ally and friend, if not family. If nothing more than someone who is not a threat to you, then I would accept that as well."

Daniel looked to Jack, they would have to make this decision together but as of fifteen minutes before Jack wasn't even willing to set foot in the same room as Lust, let alone allow her to be a part of anything in this house. She had caused as much damage as her sister, taking their house down in flames. She did things to harm and cause distress, she wasn't saying she hadn't and maybe that was a start.

"I am glad to know you see what you thought was incorrect but this is not something we can decide because of one impassioned speech about change and whatnot," Jack stated and Lust nodded. Jack continued and she looked up in shock, "I am not saying no, but I am saying not right now. We are still reeling from almost losing Malachi; we are still reeling from Desire putting us in a position to pick our son over our daughters because she couldn't just destroy the curse in its entirety. All of that is painful and I am so angry sometimes I can barely see straight so not right now."

"But hope can spring for another day?" Lust asked gently.

Jack nodded and she smiled a little. Daniel and Jack both looked over at the queen and she nodded before pressing a hand to Lust's shoulder and she smiled, "Thank you for hearing her plea, she will not be freed for a long time so you know where to find her when you have been able to make your decision."

Then with a slight air displacement, the two women were gone and the couple was left alone. Daniel looked over and realized that Ben was standing at the stairs to his basement apartment, he must've gone down there for something when Akina teleported in and when he got back up everything had been tense enough that he hadn't been noticed. Daniel smiled and pointed towards the stairs, "Kids are upstairs, and probably waiting for someone to 'tell' them it is safe to come down. Undoubtedly one of them was eavesdropping."

Ben nodded and headed in that direction while Jack walked over to the couch and Daniel followed a step behind. Erica nodded to both of them and walked out the front door as well, Daniel guessed that Elle left already because she wasn't with the five children he sent upstairs a few minutes before. He knew that girl moved around independently from her mother because she was in training and because of that she had her own patients that she looked in on all the time and right now the Jackson-O'Neill house was not one of them.

Daniel moved over and sat down on the couch and Jack joined him after a minute, they waited for the children to come back downstairs then they were all climbing into the couch with them and Daniel chuckled as the puppy pile was easily created on the large piece of furniture. Zada and Zale were on the cushion between Jack and Daniel, Janet and Claire were sitting on Daniel and Johnny was sitting with Jack, Greer standing off to the side until Jack invited him over for a hug and the boy jumped up to squish between Jack and the other end of the couch. Ben grabbed one of the other chairs for himself and they sat like that for a little while though Daniel knew Malachi was going to wake up soon which meant if they needed to have a conversation about this, it should be now.

"She won't come anywhere near you guys until you feel comfortable with it," Daniel said first. There was a round of nods and he looked over to Zale and Johnny, the girls hadn't had a lot of experience with Lust, more so with Desire but Zale was still freaked and Daniel could feel it in the back of his mind. Zale was really good at containing his emotions, they usually had to be pretty strong for Daniel to feel anything that wasn't being purposefully transmitted and the fear was like a sick darkness in the back of his mind and he knew there was no way Lust was going to be welcomed around Daniel's eldest son for a long time. When Daniel had been willing to speak to her, it had never been about endearing her to Zale or Johnny, it had been about asking for forgiveness of harsh words said in a fearful time, something that Daniel wasn't proud of but if they were scared of her, she would not be allowed around them.

"She's not going to be coming back here either way," Jack grumbled darkly.

"What is the point then?" Zada asked gently, as always in curiosity not unkindness.

"The point is to ask ourselves if the hatred is more powerful than the desire to live in peace," Daniel whispered gently, to not only the children but to Jack as well. There was nothing more important than keeping all of them alive and safe but he didn't want them to be so quick to judge and hate, he didn't want forgiveness to be a maybe kind of thing, he wanted them to know what it had been like to let go of all the things that can take up residence in hurt a soul in ways that are hard to understand. He'd felt it sink into him when the warriors had been trying to take him away from Jack, when they'd been pushing all of his trauma buttons over and over, whether they knew it or not. What he was realizing now was to offer forgiveness was not synonymous with give that person free reign to do harm once more. It is the journey to peace and it was one that Daniel would be pleased to walk once more instead of the one for a warrior. If he needed to be strong then so be it but hate was not something he wanted to teach their children.

"She wants you to know that she wants to move on and do no more harm to this family, she wants to be a part of it but it will only go so far as we are all willing to go. And maybe right now she will have forgiveness and nothing more, her wants and hopes are not yours to answer."

"I do not want to hate her, or Desire. I do not wish to be a part of her life either, but I do not like the darkness that hate brings. It does not feel good," Zada whispered and Daniel nodded and pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head. Everyone else was still quiet and Daniel figured they didn't need an answer tonight; they didn't even need one in a couple days. The kids deserved the right to think it over.

"Okay guys, think about it and talk to us about whenever you want to," Jack said just as Malachi started fussing, the sound slipping through the baby monitor so he stood and resettled the rest of the family in the cushion before he walked up the stairs towards their baby.

He smiled, thinking that for the first time in probably half a year he wasn't expecting the worst. The one blip on the radar had found them instead of him trying to find a way to alleviate the concern. He could look forward to some time just being Jack and Daniel with the kids again. That was a blessing to be celebrated and he hoped that they might find a way to do just that.

For now though, he held the children close and started their afternoon with some games in the living room. He listened as they chattered happily and when Jack came back down with a smiling Malachi, they settled on the floor to work with him for a little while. After the slow going of the first few weeks, getting him to be able to roll over and onto his hands and knees things were going a little easier. They were working on crawling now, it was about strength training for Malachi and he was pleased to sit in the middle of the room and have everyone's eyes on him as he bounced on his knees and hands, talking and giggling. He made a lot of noise, jabbering in nonsensical noises while he was trying to convince his body to do new things. Daniel and Jack worked with him and cheered him on all afternoon until Daniel went to the kitchen and started cooking.

He decided to go a little farther to make it a good meal, he cooked a slab of meat with cooked vegetables and cut up some fruit, which he topped with some sweet cream. He set the table and grabbed one of the walkie-talkies, whose brother lived at Adrian's house, he clicked the button twice and in a few seconds Adrian's voice was coming through from several houses down the road. Daniel asked if he wanted to join them for dinner and they agreed, and would bring some mead for the grownups, there was no such thing as hard alcoholic beverages but some sweet mead was something that the Vannas were capable of making and did so every once in a while. Daniel and Jack didn't partake very often, didn't have it in the house because Jack didn't like to be even slightly inebriated in a world where fighting had to be second nature and it reminded him heavily of the days when he'd been trying to bury the pain about Charlie in the bottom of a whiskey bottle. Daniel liked it every once in a while he was still a cheap drunk.

This was a special night though and Daniel was looking forward to sharing a little drink with his family even though the children would be drinking some of the fresh squeezed juice Daniel made once a week as a special treat for them.

About the time he was checking the meat and had the rest of the food on the table, Adrian and his family was knocking on the door, Jack shouting come in and exclaiming happily at the sight of his dear friend and family's arrival. Daniel knew Sam and the gang were going to be coming over any minute, having already invited them for the weekly tradition of 'team night' which had become family night with the kids. Daniel knew there would be plenty of food, Sam and Teal'c were bringing some food with them as well to add to the table in the kitchen which was starting to whine a little under the weight of the prepared feast as well as the plates and silverware. He knew there was going to be an adventure getting everyone situated to eat but Daniel knew it was possible since they'd done it before. The children could sit at the table and the adult could relax in the living room since they were less messy, Jack would have Malachi undoubtedly and DK would be feeding Neil since he was still young enough to need a little assistance but the rest of the children were good on their own.

Once everyone was standing in the living room together, three families made one by circumstances and Jack was staring at Daniel in surprise and shock. It was still a rarity to purposefully invite two families over to share a meal, it happened accidently all the time. Daniel knew it was a surprise to Jack but he was pleased to see the happy sheen of tears in his husband's eye as he stood and knocked on the side of the wall to gather all eyes to him. He raised his glass and looked around the room at this huge family he was a part of and thought back for a moment to the time after his parents died and his grandfather denied him. He'd spent all the years between then and when he entered the Stargate Program just hoping to find himself a family. He had learned to be happy alone, if he couldn't be with family or have friends then he would excel in the areas in which his parents did, they would be his legacy if family never could be again. Everything had determine for him that family and love was temporary, Sha're and Sarah and all the others that were blips in the grand scheme of life and now here he was staring out into a sea of faces with love in their eyes and smiles on their faces.

And suddenly he couldn't breathe because it was more than he'd ever hoped for, even in the feverish dreams of an idealized child mind. This was more and it was real.

"Danny?" Jack asked, the concern in his voice tipping the scale for Daniel and bringing him back to the happy moment instead of the impending heart attack because his heart felt as though it was too large for his ribcage.

"I'm okay, just a little overwhelmed, but in a good way," he hurried to add when Jack tried to stand and come over to him. He smiled to his husband and couldn't help the warmth that spread in his chest, Jack had always been something he'd hoped for but had never known it could be possible, and that it could be his someday.

He looked over at his children and smiled as he started talking again, "There is a day in our time when he stand among those we love and we share what we are thankful for. The day has been turned into a day of eating but the thankfulness is still just as important, that and family. I didn't think this was ever possible for me, to have all of you in my life. I didn't know to dream bigger than having Jack as my best friend, Sam and Teal'c as my sister and brother. I didn't know to hope for more and here we are. I have the most loving and strong partner I could ask for, someone to stand with me against all takers, someone to lean on and someone who can lean on me when he needs. I have six of the most beautiful and precious children a man could ever possible imagine and today and every day before as well as all the days to follow, I will stand in awe and gratitude to have all of you in my life and my heart. I love you guys so much."

Daniel watched as Jack handed Malachi to Adrian who immediately started tickling and hugging the giggling boy. Daniel kept an eye on Malachi for a second to smile at his happy attitude to everything that had happened to him already then Jack was in front of him and tugging him into a bone jarring hug and Daniel returned it because he wanted to and he could. He tightened his hands into the back of Jack's shirt while Jack's hand gravitated to the back of Daniel's head and held him close. Daniel pressed a kiss into the side of Jack's neck and took in the musky scent that was synonymous with home for him.

"You planned a thanksgiving for us," Jack whispered before he leaned back just enough to press a damp kiss to Daniel's closed mouth. He didn't push for me, Daniel noticed but then they were already getting catcalls from their audience and he wasn't much for a lot of PDA that was more than the children and Jack knew.

"Do you mind? I know planning holidays is sometimes your thing but we've never had one and I thought it might be a good day for gratitude."

"You are one smart man, Dr. Jackson," Jack said and kissed him again.

"Well they don't hand out PhD's for nothing you know," Daniel said with a chuckle and a wink before a sudden thunder of small feet determined that the children were done waiting for their turn with Daddy. He traded hugs and kisses before sending everyone to fill their plates and cups and start eating. He sat on a chair, squished in close with Jack with plates held on the arms of the chair and sharing a cup of sweetened mead on the table between their chair and the larger couch. He listened to the chatter as it spun around him, the kids were chattering in the kitchen, jumping between English and Latin, the strongest secondary language they had and one they shared with Sam's kids as well. He watched as the guys talked and laughed over him and around him. DK and Sam were standing against one of the far walls talking and laughing about something and he figured out something, he could stop looking for perfection or forgiveness or contentment because it was here in this packed living room and kitchen. He shifted a little and pressed a quick kiss to the side of Jack's face he shifted to look at him.

"What was that for?" he asked in gentle happy confusion.

"Because I'm happy, no matter the chaos, and the magic and all the other things. I am happy here with you and the kids, I didn't know that was still truly possible."

Jack grinned and pressed a mead flavored kiss to Daniel's lips and he smiled into the contact. Then he went back to eating and listening. There was nothing else really Thanksgiving-like to do, there was no parade or game on television. There were no pies to be shoveled into their mouths, there was just thankfulness, good food and they were all heading out for a walk and games in the back yard in a little while.

And it was a perfect little slice of happiness for everyone involved.


	17. Until Next Time

**Chapter Seventeen: Until Next Time**

Jack took his time that night saying goodnight to the friends as the left after dinner, and his father before he went back downstairs with Malachi in his arms, he was going to spend the rest of the night with his Grandpapa as a favor to Jack. His Daddy and Papa had already kissed the youngest Jackson-O'Neill and now they were doing the rounds with the rest of the kids. Daniel was in the bedroom with Johnny since he'd already been upstairs with the other kids. Jack had already loved on their twin heroes and now he was just walking into Zada's room, she was sitting at her vanity brushing her long and beautiful dark hair. He walked over and pressed a kiss to the top of her head between one stroke and the next.

"Hey baby girl," he whispered before he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Did you have fun with your friends for dinner and games?"

She nodded and turned to him, locking those deep brown eyes on him and he smiled without really meaning to. She was just so beautiful and kind and he couldn't help the swell of pride that she was his.

"Papa can I ask you something about Lust and Desire?"

He nodded even as the happy glow fizzled away in the face of an uncomfortable topic for him.

"Do you want us to hate them?" she asked bluntly, sometimes it sucked that she was so much like him but maybe she would get more honesty from him like this, Daniel was still a subtle man and sometimes his subtly was completely lost on Jack. After the initial shock wore off he had to think before he answered, looking down at his hands then back to his daughter.

"I don't want you to hate anyone sweetie, hate is an ugly thing that can poison even the most loving of people. I know I suck at this word and feelings stuff compared to Daddy but I am sorry for the loss of your mother. With Lust, I want you and your brothers and sister to be wary of the damage she could do if you were to let her into your heart, like the damage her sister did to us before the end. It is really hard for me to trust after it has been broken, for both of those women the trust and faith we once had in them had been shattered beyond repair but I don't really hate them."

Zada nodded and got up and walked over to settled on Jack's knee, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and just hugged him for a few minutes before she kissed him on the cheek, "I do not want to hate her either and I would not want Lust anywhere near our home, or Johnny and Zale or Malachi. I would not want to see them harmed because we did not have caution as well."

Jack nodded and hugged her tightly before he patted her gently on the back and tucked her into bed, "Did Daddy come and say goodnight?"

She nodded with a grin on her face, "He loves us so much huh Papa?"

"Of course baby, did you have a doubt?" Jack asked with a pleased chortle.

"No, it is still nice to hear it said over and over."

"Well baby girl the feeling is mutual, I love you so much and I am so proud of you."

Zada dragged Jack down and kissed him on the cheek one more time then smirked up at him, "Go spend some time with Daddy."

Jack barked a surprised laugh before he tickled his daughter, kissed her forehead and walked out before she had a chance to really make him blush. He headed next door to say goodnight to Zale who was already huddled in bed, his body made as small on the mattress as possible and he walked across the room and pressed a hand to the side of Zale's head. "What's wrong Zale?"

"Daddy go to bed already?" he asked instead.

"Do you want Daddy?" Jack asked in response.

Zale nodded, looking miserable so Jack reversed and called out, "Daniel, Zale's room."

"Do you want some alone time with Daddy?" he asked, sometimes each child tended to be closer to their biological father in these moments, not often but he wanted to make sure since he didn't know what was happening. Zale had been happy and playing not that long ago.

He shook his head.

Daniel walked in, eyes wide and they tracked immediately to their oldest son and he strode over to the bed and pulled the covers back slowly and Zale climbed into his father's arms. Jack moved as Daniel sat down and Zale immediately shifted so he was in a three way hug with them both and he shuddered in their embrace.

"What is it Z?" Daniel murmured.

"I'm scared of Lust, being here on the island, she was here in our house. I felt anger, fear and hate for her, she hurt me, she forced me and she's going to do it again."

"She's not. Do you know why I know that Zale?" Jack asked, using his General voice.

He shook his head.

"Because she's not coming back to this house again until everyone in the family decides its okay, meaning that if its never okay with you then she won't be here."

"Exactly," Daniel whispered into Zale's head. The little boy sat back in his Daddy's lap, looking way to big to be sitting in their laps anymore but Jack figured he was going to let their kids get away with it for as long as they wanted to. He didn't think he was ever going to get tired of them being close to him.

"I wanted to hurt her, like I did to that man. I do not want to think those thoughts, I am not a bad person. I do not want to be an Infidel."

Jack frowned, that was the first time any of the children had ever talked about the Infidels. The other side of the Vannas people are something that Zale and his siblings had very little knowledge or experience with. Jack looked around Zale's head to Daniel who shook his head a little and kissed Zale again.

"You could never be an Infidel Z-Man, you are to good and kind hearted," Daniel said.

"Like Daddy Daniel?" Zale asked.

"Yeah," Jack responded with a smile.

Zale jerked back a little, "He killed someone, he beat someone. Is he a bad man?"

Daniel's face fell and he looked crushed and desperate and a simple goodnight switched from consoling a hurting and confused son to consoling the son and his husband. "Daddy Daniel did what he had to do to protect his family, he is a very good man. He is one of the best I know, you are not a bad boy for the man you killed. Do you hear me?"

Zale nodded but Jack was looking at Daniel, watching as the tears tried desperately to fall as the terror of all the consequences of his actions came back to bite him in the ass. Jack was going to end up spending some time in bed convincing Daniel that he was a good man, no matter what had happened.

"You have never used your powers to harm someone on purpose, you have never gone out of your way to hurt someone with your words or actions. Do you want us to stay with you tonight, you could come and sleep with Daddy and me, and then we are getting you in to see Miss Erica again okay?"

"I'm not bad?" Zale asked again, his voice wobbling in an effort not to cry.

Jack and Daniel both pressed kisses into his head, "No baby," Daniel whispered, barely keep a tangled grip on his own emotions. Zale was probably getting some feedback from Daniel's pain which was probably not helping so Jack gently took his son from Daniel's loose grip, leaving the other father to wrap his arms around himself in a self-hug. Jack hugged Zale close and whispered against Zale's forehead, "Do you wanna stay with Daddy and me tonight?"

He shook his head then climbed into his bed. Daniel and Jack both kissed him then headed out. Jack wrapped an arm around Daniel's shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down his arm gently, pressing a kiss to the side of his head, "Did you finish you goodnights?"

Daniel nodded so Jack directed him to the stairs and to their bedroom. Jack looked over at the crib before he remembered Malachi was downstairs with his father. Then he turned back as Daniel pulled away from his light hold, walking over to their dresser and pulling out some night clothes and started changing, as if he was in slow motion. Jack left him alone long enough for him to get changed and take care of his evening bathroom routine before Jack couldn't handle the quiet devastation anymore. When he came out of the bathroom, Jack held open his arms and Daniel curled into his chest and he sighed unhappily. Jack pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Daniel's neck and tightened his hold just a little.

"You are a good man Daniel, you take it all in and you are the one whose willing to see Lust forgiven, a few bad moments and mistakes do not make you a bad man. Your son knows that and I need you to figure it out right now okay?"

Daniel shook his head, his hands gripping at Jack's wrists, thankfully there was no need for him to pull away, he wasn't trying to escape Jack's hold or comfort. It wasn't for another minute that Jack realized the reason he was leaning away from Jack and curling in on himself was the sobs that erupted from his chest and Jack turned Daniel around, catching a flash of devastated and tear stained features before he was pulling Daniel close again. He pressed him close, a hand to the back of Daniel's head and just started rocking him where they stood and waited for the sobs to subsided. There was no point in fighting against that release of emotion, when Daniel was wrung out and done they finally moved across the room and Jack tucked Daniel into bed before he dressed for bed and said goodbye to having a romantic evening with Daniel but that was okay, this was more important. He climbed in behind Daniel and curled around the other man's body, pressing his fingers through the soft mop of Daniel's hair and he just kept kissing the back of his partner's neck and crooned words to him.

He didn't know for sure how much time slipped through the cracks as they stayed like that before Daniel took a deep breath and sighed heavily, proving he hadn't fallen into an exhausted sleep yet.

"I think you need to see Erica about this," Jack whispered gently.

"I can't just talk to you about it?" he croaked, his voice raw from the sobbing.

Jack smiled, "You can talk to me if you want but you know how I feel. You did what you had to do, Zale did what was required and you are both good people. If anyone deserves to be cast as an Infidel, it's me."

Daniel shook his head and sighed as he turned over and looked at Jack. He looked into those expressive brown eyes and couldn't stop himself from threading his fingers through the strands again, watching as Daniel's eyes fluttered closed at the sensation. "You could never be an Infidel Jack, you care too much."

Jack leaned in carefully and pressed his lips to Daniel's for a leisurely kiss, open-mouthed and wet. He sank into the contact and let his touch tell Daniel all he needed to know. Jack slid his hand to the back of Daniel's neck and down his chest to grip him close and Daniel sighed into his mouth at the sensation. Jack had no intention at this point of taking the contact very far, letting Daniel run the show since it was his breakdown and it was up to him how much he wanted.

When Daniel finally pulled away, it was to tuck his head into Jack's neck and heaved a sigh again. "I will make an appointment with Erica, I will talk to her about this. It's not something I can handle on my own; it's possible that Zale will need it too. Do you think its something we can get through?"

"Oh Danny, you know better than that," Jack whispered gently and hugged him tightly. "We are going to make it through this together like we always have, you and Zale, all of us are going to keep working through what happened and nothing is going to stop you from figuring this out for yourself and we are going to keep raising our kids and we are going to keep fighting and loving and living our life together."

"You promise?" Daniel whispered.

Jack nodded and they settled into silence for a while and he just reveled in the quiet for a few minutes while Daniel relaxed against him. Then he whispered, "You let Ben take Malachi downstairs for the night."

"You made thanksgiving dinner," Jack said in return, figuring if they were going to say statements then he could easily return the favor. Daniel smiled into Jack's chest then he reached out and tugged at Jack's shirt until he slid fingers across naked skin and Jack sucked in a deep breath. He stretched out while Daniel sat up, leaning across his chest and pressing Jack back into the mattress. He'd been hoping for this for days, having spent so much time recently worried about their children and surviving that they had not had much time together. He sat up as Daniel lifted his shirt to bare Jack to the room and Daniel's roaming fingers. Jack reached up and did the same for Daniel. Their hands wandered, the rest of their clothes were slowly removed until they were naked and panting. It didn't take long for Jack and Daniel to find a rhythm together and groaning into their quiet room.

Jack pressed his palm into Daniel's hand as he stroked into his husband's body and there was nothing like it in the whole of the world. He moved slowly, wanting everything to stop and he wanted to just be Jack with his Daniel. There was nothing more important to him right now that letting Daniel know in all the ways he possibly could that there was nothing he wouldn't do for him, there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect his family.

He felt as Daniel came, cresting the edge of pleasure as he shouted into the pillow and Jack fell over the edge with him. Jack settled, his heart rate slowing by the minute as he resettled on the bed next to Daniel and tugged him close once again. He leaned over to the bedside table and grabbed a towel to clean them both up quickly before he pressed a kiss to the back of Daniel's neck and they drifted on the edge of sated sleep and happiness.

 **Epilogue**

The next day started a journey that continues into adulthood for Zale and Zada, the chance to grow in love instead of hate. The whole family sought out the help they needed, feeling brve enough to do so because Daniel and Jack were willing to not only continue to see Erica alone, but also separately. There was nothing more important to either of them than showing the children they were could make it through the toughest of times without giving up on each other and themselves.

Daniel spent a lot of time with Zale, letting him know that he wasn't a failure because of the man he killed. They went to several sessions together, father and son suffering and struggling from the same distaste for violence while living in a world where it was a mainstay of survival. Jack and Zada were very similar in the way that they did what they had to do, they sought help to accept that but also for Zada to look for other options instead of violence and Jack agreed with his daughter. There was no point in hating when they could accept that bad things happened and there was nothing they could do but learn to be okay in the end.

The twins were still learning what it was to have their mother's power and they had no idea what the future would hold for them in that capacity but even after months of having the power of Desire, they were not hurting others with the powers and they were still incapable of doing serious harm on their own.

And Johnny was still as resilient as ever, there was nothing he didn't smile about. And he was still the most devoted big brother that Jack and Daniel could ever ask for. And while everyone was dealing with their own issues, everyone came together for Malachi, the Spark. He had a hard journey before him that had in no way stopped him from moving forward in a slow and tedious journey to being a one year old capable of doing a fraction of the things the other children were able to do. All the kids spent a part of their day and week to work with Malachi along with Jack and Daniel, aware that he truly was the powerful message of blessings and hope, just what Daniel named him for.

They would seek to find a way for themselves, as a family and as individuals for years to come and in some ways the story has only begun.

 **The End… For now, keep an eye out for the next installment of Gate to Vannas**


End file.
